The Tale of Elske

First Lines Fridays: June 15, 2018

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First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

First Lines:

The Volkking struggled, but his sickness attacked him both day and night, a war band giving the enemy no respite of sleep. From the longest day until harvesttime, the Volkking sickened, and as it was with the King, so was it with his land.

Did the quote pique your interest? View this book on Goodreads!

 

February 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

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Elske by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 4)
Rating:  ★★★★★
Review:  Yes
Reading Dates:  January 30 – Feb 5
Read Count:  4
Favorite Thing:  Elske just defying everyone’s expectations over and over.
Least Favorite Thing:  Beriel’s friendship skills need work.

So now that I’ve finished rereading the Tales of the Kingdom is it too early to start rereading them all over again?

Note:  Also published as The Tale of Elske, which is the version I read since I don’t have access to my own copy right now.

My Posts About Elske

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 1)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  February 6 – 11
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  When Celaena won the sparring match without even drawing a weapon!
Least Favorite Thing:  Only one named black character (and the only unnamed ones were that character’s body guards that get mentioned in passing a few times…).

I decided to reread Throne of Glass so I can read the parts of the series I hadn’t gotten to yet.

My Posts About Throne of Glass

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 2)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  February 14 – 21
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Celaena rescuing Chaol and fucking up a whole room full of dudes.
Least Favorite Thing:  Just talk to each other!!! Everyone in these books gets all offended when their friends keep secrets from them, but then they keep secrets from those same people! Just communicate!

It’s a good thing I reread this one because I didn’t remember many of the finer details.

My Posts About Crown of Midnight

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
(Throne of Glass, book 3)
Rating:  ★★★☆☆
Review:  No
Reading Dates:  February 27 – 28
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  Abraxos!
Least Favorite Thing:  Maeve a lil bish…

Hahahaha I remembered almost nothing of Aelin’s story or anyone from Adarlan. I only remembered Manon and her witches! Good thing I reread it!

My Posts About Heir of Fire

QuoteLeeLeave a comment
Beriel shone with it, like a sun, the Queen in her Kingdom. It was as if each breath she drew increased her pleasure, breathing that air. It was as if each hoof the chestnut planted onto the earth increased her strength.

– Cynthia Voigt, Elske, page 255

Version:
Paperback, 384 pages
Published May 26th 2015 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

QuoteLeeLeave a comment
Beriel gave this gift to Elske carelessly, as if to be trusted were the common fortune. But Elske opened her heart to take the gift into her care as if it were a babe.

– Cynthia Voigt, Elske, page 252

Version:
Paperback, 384 pages
Published May 26th 2015 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

WWW Wednesday: February 7, 2018

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Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three W’s!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:  Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass, book 1) by Sarah J. Maas

I have been planning, and talking about planning, to reread the Throne of Glass novels so that I could read the newer ones for I think two years now. And finally I’m getting started on it!

I’ll probably read them a bit slower than I would normally, just because I read them once before and didn’t retain the information very well. Major plot points, I still got, but everything else is just too fuzzy.

Wish me luck, y’all!

Recently Finished:  Elske (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4) by Cynthia Voigt

I hated ending this book! I tried to read it as slow as I could to make it last, but it still feels like it zipped by too fast!

I love the Tales of the Kingdom so much. In fact, I think I love them more every time I reread them, which doesn’t usually happen for me.

I know I say this a lot, probably more than anything else I blog, but seriously if you like YA Fantasy, or even just YA Fiction of all types, you should totally give these books a try. They are older so most people don’t even know about them, and they are so worth knowing!

  OR  

Reading Next:  Undiscovered Gyrl by Allison Burnett OR Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, book 2) by Sarah J. Maas

I’m torn. I can’t decide if I should jump straight into the next Throne of Glass novel or break up my reread by reading other books inbetween, such as this book Undiscovered Gyrl.

I grabbed this book because I saw the film adaptation. (Sometimes when I’m stressed I like to watch movies that make me dissociate. How’s that for unhealthy coping mechanisms?) And I figured since I’ve been trying to read some different sorts of books, I might as well give this one a try.

I guess I’ll have to decide based on how easily I get through ToG and how I feel afterward, but I’d rather know ahead of time.

QuoteLeeLeave a comment
At Beriel’s silence she turned around — and fury crashed against her like a wave thrown by a storm against the rocky coast.

– Cynthia Voigt, Elske, page 180

Version:
Paperback, 384 pages
Published May 26th 2015 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Teaser Tuesday: February 6, 2018

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As best she could, in her secluded position, she was considering how she might secure further choices, and what they might be — once this, her first free choice, had played itself out.

– Cynthia Voigt, Elske (Tales of the Kingdom, book 4), page 106

Version:
Paperback, 384 pages
Published May 26th 2015 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Friday 56: February 2, 2018

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The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda’s Voice and the rules are simple:

  • Grab a book, any book (I, personally, prefer to use my current read.)
  • Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that’s ok.)
  • Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it)
  • Post it

Elske by Cynthia Voigt
(Tales of the Kingdom, book 4)

It seemed to her that, except to marry, the women of Trastad feared men, except for their fathers, and brothers; and the fathers, brothers and husbands mistrusted all other men.

Thursday Quotables: February 1, 2018

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This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week; whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written.

But on this night, for this Volkking’s death, when the Death Maiden no longer cried out, and the beating hands had tired, and throats were too raw to howl again, and silence flowed like night out of the low doorway of the Death House, flames erupted —

Summary:

Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt depicts the parallel quests of two extraordinary young women with power and compassion in this fourth and final book in the Tales of the Kingdom series.

Elske is a girl with no future—until her grandmother’s sacrifice saves her from certain death. Beriel is an imperious princess, determined to claim the kingdom that is her birthright. Fate brings them together, both exiles, one servant to the other. Elske offers Beriel steadfast loyalty and courage, precious qualities in a dangerous quest to regain the throne she has been denied by treachery. And for Elske, the handmaiden, Beriel’s proud example provides a perhaps even more precious gift—the strength to look within. As Elske seeks to find her true self and Beriel battles to reclaim what is rightfully hers, both discover the value, and the price, of reaching the journey’s end.

Thank you Bookshelf Fantasies for this fun book meme!