Hello
happy readers! I hope you are excited
for the weekend to start, I’m working this one so no big plans here just hope
to get some reading in! First a quick
reminder there my giveaway for a SIGNED copy of Blacksouls (Blackhearts #2) by Nicole
Castroman ends tomorrow night so don’t forget to enter while you can here. Technical stuff aside I am excited to discuss
my latest audiobook read, Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh, the first in a new
series of the same name.
Rating: 4.5
Stars
I
didn’t know a ton about this book going.
I had been anticipating it because I enjoyed the authors other works and
was ready to read more. I also LOVED the
cover with the phoenix and flowers. Yes
I realized they are in fact throwing stars now but at first glance I thought
they were flowers, totally made it even better when I realized the truth. Anywho, we follow Mariko, daughter of a
prominent samurai and raised for the purpose to marry despite her desire to be
equal to her twin brother, Kenshin. She
is an accomplished alchemist and is even more cunning than her brother but she
is a female and thus unable to be equal.
While en route to the imperial palace to meet her betrothed for the
first time her convoy is attacked by the Black Clan, the dangerous bandits
hired to kill her. They fail and she
escapes into the woods o plot her revenge.
To move around she disguises herself as a boy and works to infiltrate
the Black Clan to find out who wanted her dead and why. Though once inside she never planned on
enjoying her time, let alone falling for any of these bandits.
I
really liked this story. I fell into it
easily and was caught up in the story. I
didn’t want to turn it off. I listened
to the audiobook format and it was amazing.
The narrator was very easy to listen to and made each of the characters
sound different in both pitch and voice which is always a treat. The writing was beautiful and vivid but it
kept up a fast pace and alternated POV here and there which gave more depth to
the overall story.
Mariko
is easy to love. She is a girl after my
own heart, who doesn’t believe she should be treated as anything less than her
brother just because she is a female rather than a male. Like what’s between your legs is really what
makes one worthy. She is cunning and
smart and determined to have control of her own life. While she is willing to bend to the wills of
her family as is expected of her, she still makes her own choices alone the
way. I liked that. Stubborn and hard headed for sure but I still
loved it. Her desire to know what and why
driving her instead of self-preservation.
We
also see things from her brother, Kenshin’s, POV and see his search for his
sister. He knows how she thinks and he
loves her “oddness” and all which I do appreciate. But the other real stars are the Black
Clan. They as a group and the
individuals themselves are pretty awesome each with their own personality and
attributes. Some see them as evil and
others as saviors so unweaving story from fact and getting to know them as
Mariko does was nice. The primary story
is on the cunning moves, the mystery and intrigue of figuring out what happened
and keeping secrets but it finds a way to have a little romance in there that
not only fit well within the story but also really rang true and had you
rooting for it. Mostly because even when
she is hiding who she is, as a female and betrothed, she is more herself within
the Black Clan than anywhere else.
Flame
in the Mist manages to weave reality with a touch of romance and also the
supernatural/magical elements into one amazing story. I loved the magical elements and I really
hope we get to see more of them in the rest of the series and even mind out how
they came to be. There is still so much
story left to be told and with how it left off I know I need more and I would
rather have it now. I highly recommend
this book.
Until
next time…
