The Legend Of Sidri by Rauf Khalilov - Blog Tour Review

Today Life Of A Nerdish Mum is part of the blog tour for The Legend Of Sidri by Rauf Khalilov a wonderful children's fantasy and I am sharing my review. With big thanks to Faye of Authoright for having me along. 

The Legend Of Sidri 

In the mythical realm of Badalonium, a young boy named Sidri lived happily with his beloved parents. But the family is shattered by an evil figure from the afar, triggering a series of events that lead Sidri on a journey of self-development, friendship, family reunions and retribution.

My Review

The Legend Of Sidri really took me back to my childhood reading! The coloured pages and the absolutely stunning illustrations, even the font used gave the feel of a classic children's fantasy and I felt at "home" straight away before I'd even read a word. The story itself continued along that same and there were morals and talking animals (both things were in all children's fantasy books when I was younger). 

Sidri was a very strong character and one that you wouldn't mind your children wanting to be like as he is smart and brave and kind. 

The world building is done exceptionally well and I could picture myself there, surrounded by the magic. Part of what makes this possible, is the fact that though words are used that are "made up", they sound natural to read and are easy even for a younger reader to sound out. This means that you don't lose immersion in the story trying to figure out how to pronounce something. I really enjoyed the adventures Sidri has and the trials and travels he has to go through as he gets older. 

The Legend Of Sidri is only 40 and a bit pages long and passed far too quickly for me, I would have happily read a sweeping, epic fantasy set in this world. However I'm not the target audience and I think it's a perfect book to introduce a kind of fantasy to children.

Oh and there's a map! You can't help nut loving a book with a map. 

Overall a really enjoyable book and one I will be passing on to mini Nerdling to read in the future. 

I gave this book 5 stars. 

About The Author

Rauf Khalilov is a lawyer by profession. He lives and works in London. He is married and has two kids. Rauf enjoys spending time away from work with his family, but when he has spare time left, he plays chess, writes poetry and music, sings, exercises and cooks. Rauf has a dream to own a farm with a lake where he would have a restaurant that would serve food produced on his own farm. He would also like to create a centre within the farm for children with special needs where they would receive education through play therapy with animals and nature.   

Don't Forget To Check Out The Rest Of The Tour

Land Of Midnight Days - Katrina Jack

I was very lucky to receive an e-book copy of Land Of Midnight Days direct from the author, Katrina Jack, in exchange for an honest review. 

Omgoodness this book sucks you right in and doesn't let you out until its done! Land Of Midnight Days is fast paced and action packed. I genuinely couldn't put this book down when I picked it up as I needed to know what happened next. 

Jeremiah the main character is a half Elwyn/half human and a genius with the flute. He is an amazing character, he is broken but he refuses to give up. I think he is also the first mute character that I have come across and it was really interesting watching the struggle of trying to make himself understood when the other person couldn't use sign language. I thought this was all handled extremely well and the author also highlighted the presumptions that people have about differently abled people. I think the description in the synopsis of Jeremiah is perfect, he knows how to survive, but not how to live. 

The characters are all fleshed out really well and there isn't a single character that I didn't find interesting. The author has updated elves, ogres and demons in a really interesting way and in a way to make them work in an urban environment instead of rolling hills and valleys. Apart from Jeremiah, I really liked the characters of Joe, Big Fred and I thought Ezra's character wasn't nice but was interesting. As a parent I just couldn't find anything redeeming in either Sylvan or Zeb as both of them let Jeremiah down in the worst way time and time again. 

The world described is one of violence and of people just trying to survive. It is a very bleak place and one that can be recognised as somewhere we could end up one day. You can feel the hopelessness of the population, though there are spots of light that are shining through the darkness and hopefully they will be the one to succeed by the end of the story. 

I'm not sure why I have never heard of this series before or why more people aren't talking about it. I would 100% recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy or urban fantasy. I will definitely be picking up the rest of the books in the series to find out what happens next to Jeremiah and the other characters. 

I gave this book 5 stars. 

Land Of Midnight Days 

What would you do if your life was filled with fear: hide, run away - or would you fight back? In a city at war with itself, Jeremiah Tully already knows how to survive, now he must learn how to live. Mute from birth, of mixed race heritage and his only possession a charmed flute, Jeremiah tries to discover where his remarkable talent as a musician will take him.

Beetlebrow - Ben Parker

I received a copy of Beetlebrow direct from the author Ben Parker in exchange for an honest review. 

Beetlebrow follows the story of two young girls, Beetlebrow and Pook, on a journey to deliver a message from one king to another to save their people. 

We start out with Beetlebrow and learning about her home life with her mum and two brothers which is terrible. It really sets the scene and you can feel the impoverishment of the town and of Beetlebrow's family. Her brothers are both just horrible human beings, but her mother does everything she can for the family. 

Without any spoilers, circumstances occur and Beetlebrow decides to leave and she goes to find Pook whom she had met in the market previously and had hit it off with and the story progresses from there. 

The book is well written, though there are a few minor things that have been missed in editing. I felt the world building was very strong and I could quite easily picture each town and place that is visited throughout the story. There is one part where they are crossing a desert and I really became immersed and I could feel the heat and dryness of it and just how awful it would have been.

Beetlebrow's character was also well developed and the decisions she made, made sense from what we knew about her life, especially as we also get to see more of her brothers personalities. Her relationship with her mother was really nice and I liked that we got to see more of it at points throughout the book. Pook however I felt that I never really got to know her as much and she seemed a bit one dimensional and she slept or was tired an awful lot throughout the story. I also felt that the description "her slim body" was overused for both her and Beetlebrow. 

The relationship between Beetlebrow and Pook isn't just a friendship, they become partners too as their love for each other becomes stronger. One of my favourite scenes in the book is when Beetlebrow is trying to tell Pook how she feels about her and she's explaining that when she saw girls talking to their friends she'd want to talk to her friends like that if she had any, but with Pook she feels that these things just aren't enough and she wants to say so much more. This to me is one of the best descriptions of how you feel when you love someone, everything just is so much more special with that person than with everyone else. 

I would definitely have preferred this book to be longer so that the journey felt a lot more epic. I feel a lot of scenes could have done with more time focusing on them so you got a real feel of the danger etc of what was happening at the time. But the story definitely does not feel rushed, this would just be my preference. Also I am hoping that there is a book following Beetlebrow as I would like to find out what happened following the decisions made at the end of the story. 

Overall though a really great book and one I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I am definitely hoping for a second book so I can continue following Beetlebrow's adventures. 

I started this book on the 12th of August 2016 and I finished it on the 20th of August 2016

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads

Imperium Omni: Captain's Edition - Matthew S Thomas

I received a copy of Imperium Omni: Captain's Edition direct from the author Matthew S Thomas in exchange for an honest review.

Imperium Omni is a fantasy story based on an RPG (role playing game) board game and I have to say I felt that it really worked. The writing was really well done and rich in detail, The world building was immersive and I could really picture myself with the characters.

To make it work for readers who play RPGs, there are certain symbols at important spots throughout the story, which you can then go to the section at the back of the book for more details. If you're not a RPG player or only play casually like myself, then you can just read on past these symbols and nothing is taken away from the story itself. As a side note, I think the author would make an awesome DM (Dungeon Master) if he plays D&D!

I really like the main character Shadow, a half elf, and I thought he was really rounded, though at times he spoke far more than necessary. We follow him on his first assignment as an Explorer and he is excited to start having adventures and seeing the world while completing his duty. He meets a whole cast of characters on the way, some a lot nicer than others as well as a love interest which feels a little forced, but it may become more natural in the next book.

The only thing I would say is that the chapters are far too long in this book, there are 468 pages and only 5 chapters. The author does explain in the introduction why they have done this, but I much prefer faster paced, shorter chapters to keep me reading. I also hate putting a book down at an unnatural break.

Overall though a really enjoyable read and one I would recommend, I will also be reading the next book in the series when that comes out.

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads

Iced - Karen Marie Moning

For our latest buddy read we decided to take a break from the classics following how hard work The Iliad was and got inspired by my post on book series I hadn't completed yet to carry on with a series we hadn't finished. We discovered that we were both up to the exact same point in the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning - Iced.

Before I get into the review about Iced I just want to say that I absolutely adore the first five books in this series concentrating on Mac and my book husband Jericho Barrons. I recommend it to everyone and have been doing so for years. When Iced came out I was pregnant and moving so I just never got round to reading it though I had bought it at release. 

I was so disappointed in this book. I didn't like Dani in the previous books, so having a book with her as the main character was never going to be good for me, but I love Karen Marie Moning's (from here on out to be called KMM) writing so I thought I'd get past it. Spoiler alert, I didn't. 

I'm going to try not to be too spoilery because this is the sixth book in a series, but I am going to give my thoughts on certain things.

The Fever Series is NOT a YA series, never has been, never will be; so having a fourteen year old main character just made KMM's job a lot harder and it really shows. Dani ends up being the lust object (I refuse to call it love for two out of the three people) for three grown men/fae. Now they say age is just a number etc and in olden times she'd be married with kids by this age, but you just aren't allowed to forget how old she is. Her age must be mentioned at least every other page and the way she talks, I'm convinced isn't how any fourteen year old would talk. In the previous book she admitted to watching porn, but she will only call sex "boinking" which just doesn't fit at all. Also there's a lot of talk about being her first even though she repeatedly says that it isn't going to happen, It all just feels so creepy to me. 

The story itself, while well written, just didn't hold any interest for me at all. I found myself not really not caring who or what the big bad was, I just wanted to get to the end and honestly the last chapter is the best part and makes me excited about the next book. 

F had the same problems as me and after a few days of our usual 20 pages a day, we decided to up it to 50 pages a day just to get through it. 

Though I really didn't like this book I will continue with the series as I know it goes back to concentrating on Mac and Barrons and all this will be worth it. Also do not let this put you off trying the first five books, nothing will change my mind on how awesome they are. 

We started reading this book on the 4th of July 2016 and finished it on the 15th of July 2016.

I gave this book 2 stars on Goodreads. 

Crossbones - Stefan M. Nardi

I received an e-book copy of Crossbones direct from the author Stefan M. Nardi in exchange for an honest review.  

Honestly all I was going to write for this review was PIRATES and MAGIC! I mean, what else can you want from a fantasy book? 

In all seriousness though, I wasn't 100% sure that pirates and magic would work well together but boy, was I wrong! (Not a fan of Peter Pan, Jake and The Neverland Pirates however is good). I really think it works incredibly well and it is really well balanced. 

The story follows the brothers Dean and Eldric, both pirates who have their own magical powers. The book jumps straight into the action and immediately showcases the characters of both Dean and Eldric. Dean is the older brother, confidence verging on cocky, but with just enough charm that you can't help but smiling. Eldric is the younger brother, he has a bit more of a serious head on his shoulders. Their relationship is wonderful and you can tell they really love each other. I definitely like portrayals of strong sibling bonds. 

The book goes from one bit of action to the next, barely pausing to let the characters catch a moment to relax. This is where my only complaint about the book comes in, it's too short. I like a huge world and lots of good description in my fantasy novels, but Crossbones is very short for a fantasy. The story, world and character building however does not suffer for the book being shorter, it is just my selfishness of wanting more and wanting to know more about the whole world because I enjoyed it so much, 

Overall an exceptionally enjoyable read and a well constructed story. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series as I definitely want to learn more about Dean and Eldric and I also want to know what will happen after the climax of the first book, lives have been changed irreparably. 

I started reading this book on the 9th of July 2016 and I finished it on the 18th of July 2016.

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads. 

Nika - D.H. Gibbs

I was lucky enough to receive an e-book copy of Nika directly from the author D. H. Gibbs in exchange for an honest review. 

Nika is a taster novella following the main character Nika as she is kidnapped from the street outside her home and is kept captive by a  set of people looking for their lost leader. Her main contact with them is Demyan a tall, blue eyed and mysterious man who knows a lot more about her than he should. 

This book! I really enjoyed the world and the story and the characters, literally everything I enjoyed. I can't believe this is only a novella as I need to know more about Totems and Immortals, I need to know more about the relationship between Nika, Alex and Demyan, I need to know what happens next!! 

I really can't say too much as I don't want to spoil anyone who wants to jump into this world, I just hope there is a novel length book in the works as I really want to read it now. 

My only complaint about the novella is that there are quite a few spelling mistakes and incorrect words used, so it could have done with a little more editing. But I'll forgive it them as I did thoroughly enjoy it and the writing itself is very good. 

I started this book on the 23rd of June 2016 and I finished it on the 24th of June 2016.

I gave this book 4.5 stars on Goodreads. 

Red Blooded - My Review of Red Queen

The book I have ended up reading for the Popsugar challenge of "a book with a colour in the title" was a book that I hadn't planned on reading at all due to hearing so many mixed reviews and that book is Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I was in Waterstones with my husband and they had their buy one get one half price offer on and he suggested I pick up this and another. (I also picked up The Kill Order by James Dashner, yes I'm a sucker for punishment)

I've heard a lot of people saying that this book is just a combination of everyone's favourite dystopian novels and yes as you read through you can see comparisons to other books such as the Hunger Games etc but that doesn't change the fact that the book is well written and a very enjoyable read.

I really liked all of the characters both main and peripheral, everyone had a personality and a place where they fit into the story. I enjoyed the mess that was the love interest in the story, it made a nice change from a straight forward love triangle and I still am not 100% sure who I'm rooting for, which normally by now I would have definitely decided on who I'd like the main character to be with (if anyone).

Though the story isn't unique, I thought it was really interesting and I'm looking forward to learning more about the world and the people in it. I also thought the betrayal and twist was done incredibly well, sadly I'd been spoilt as to the fact that there was a twist but luckily not what the actual twist was. Even though I knew it was coming I was still really shocked as I couldn't make up my mind who would be the betrayer and what would come from it.

I thought the story was paced well and built up to all the action at the end of the book which has left a perfect opening for the next instalment in this series (trilogy?)

Though it was not the book I set out to read, I'm very glad that I did and I will be recommending it to other people and picking up the next book.

I started reading this book on the 27th of August 2015 and finished reading it on the 30th of August 2015.
I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads

My Review of The Assassin Princess

I originally had a different book chosen for the Book Riot topic of "a book published by an indie press", but then I was lucky enough to win a signed copy of The Assassin Princess by Blake Rivers on Facebook directly from the author and thought that it would be a perfect choice for me.

I'd read the blurb and I'd read the Goodreads description as I'd been coveting the book for a while and it sounded really interesting so I was really excited to read it. It was everything I expected and more!

The world building is brilliant and I absolutely adore Legacy, the Planrus Lands etc. They are described just enough for you to picture them yourself but with enough detail so you have a complete picture, The lore and the history that you learn as you travel through the book is incredibly interesting and going forward I would love to read more about it, it's just so well thought out and credible. The magic is also very cleverly done with where it comes from and how it is used, I don't want to go into it too much as I don't want to ruin the wonder of anyone coming to read this book.

The main three characters are Ami, Adam and Hero. Ami is exactly the right kind of badass female main protagonist that you want in a story, Adam is exactly the right kind of twisted evil you want in a story and Hero is the perfect damaged hero you want in a story. I genuinely think the characterisation has been done so well and not only for the main characters, I love the story about Ami's parents and I love the unicorns (yes there are unicorns in this book!)

I'd say the only criticism I have about this is that I don't have the next book in the series so I cannot just jump straight back into the world.

Just a mention about the front cover too, it's stunning and eye catching. So simple and yet striking.

Overall a fantastic book that throws you straight into the action and keeps you going right until the very end. People need to read this book.

I started this book on the 16th of July 2015 and finished it on the 25th of July 2015
I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads