Reads things. Writes things. Fluent in sarcasm. Willful optimist. Cat companion, chocolate connoisseur, coffee drinker. There are some who call me Mom.
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About Song of Blood and Stone
Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive–an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart.
Jack’s mission behind enemy lines to prove that the Mantle between Elsira and Lagamiri is about to fall nearly cost him his life, but he is saved by the healing Song of a mysterious young woman. Now he must do whatever it takes to save Elsira and it’s people from the True Father and he needs Jasminda’s Earthsong to do it. They escape their ruthless captors and together they embark on a perilous journey to save Elsira and to uncover the secrets of The Queen Who Sleeps.
Thrust into a hostile society, Jasminda and Jack must rely on one another even as secrets jeopardize their bond. As an ancient evil gains power, Jasminda races to unlock a mystery that promises salvation.
The fates of two nations hang in the balance as Jasminda and Jack must choose between love and duty to fulfill their destinies and end the war.
My Review Song of Blood and Stone has a lot of interesting elements woven together as far as its story world. I liked that it had a sort of turn-of-the-century feel to it—with cars and telephones—but also felt very much like a world different than ours with its harsh landscape, magic elements and legends.
The storytelling reminded me a little bit of The Blue Sword, in the way military and magic play interesting roles in the story. It also reminded me a little bit of Children of Blood and Bone in the way race and racial tension are featured.
I liked both Jasminda and Jack’s characters. You know me—totally a sucker for a good guy who has to make hard choices and is willing to give up everything to do the right thing. Jasminda is a strong woman who is desperately trying to balance independence with pragmatism, and she appealed to me very much as well.
I didn’t expect the amount of sexual content in Song of Blood and Stone. It’s very explicit and takes up several pages of the story. More on that in the content section of my review.
The racial tension in the story feels extremely well-developed and relevant to some of the things we face in the world today. Those themes were well-balanced with the plot of the story, and because the characters are so easy to empathize with, they had some real power to them. If you liked The Waking Landby Callie Bates, you would probably enjoy Song of Blood and Stone. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but the amount of sexual content is really more than I enjoy reading.
Recommended for Ages 18 up.
Cultural Elements
Two races dominate this story. One has darker skin and magic. The other is pale-skinned and has no magic. A female minor character is in a secret relationship with a woman– something her family would cast her off for if they knew.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Explicit scenes showing sex between a man and woman. One scene lasts several pages. Another is shorter but still very explicit. Some sexual comments in other scenes about arousal or lust. At one point a guard threatens to rape a woman, and when that doesn’t seem possible, he plans to sexually assault a man.
Spiritual Content Characters worship/pray to a legendary woman called the Queen Who Sleeps. She remains in an enchanted sleep, but legend says she’ll awaken at need and can speak to her people through their dreams. Worship of another god is mentioned.
Some characters also possess magic referred to as a Song.
Violent Content A few violent comments in which a man threatens to and tries to rape a woman. Some descriptions of battle scenes. Some racist epithets directed at the darker-skinned and refugee characters.
Drug Content
Alcohol served at the palace.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
About Mockingjay
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.
It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans–except Katniss.
The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay–no matter what the personal cost.
My Review This is my least favorite book in the Hunger Games series. I still enjoyed reading it, but I felt like Katniss remains a passive character for much of the beginning. I really wanted her to go on the mission to rescue Peeta (though I guess this would have made the book super long) instead of staying home feeling lost.
I thought it was clever the way the whole world sort of becomes an arena as Katniss and the rebel army advance toward the Capitol. The political elements of the story deepen as well, and the rebel force and its leader aren’t quite the benevolent group Katniss had hoped they’d be. On the whole, Mockingjay takes a darker tone than the previous books. While the first two stories show Katniss and others in the arena for sport, now she faces off against the Capitol in warfare. As the war gets more desperate, the rebels face some moral dilemmas concerning battle strategies. The Capitol has sacrificed the children of the districts every year for seventy-five years. Does this mean it’s okay for the rebels to attack Capitol children?
Katniss argues against these kinds of tactics, but not all of her allies agree with her. And as the war grows ever bloodier, even she begins to consider some of these more desperate payback attacks. It showed how easily war makes us forget the humanity of the other side.
I liked the new side characters Katniss works with as the Mockingjay. And I loved the way her relationship with Peeta unfolds, even though it involves a lot of disillusionment on both sides. I feel like that allowed them to rebuild their connection from scratch, and on more even footing since they each had to face some flaws in each other.
I’m not sorry to have read this whole series. (I’ve read it more than once, actually, but for some reason I hadn’t managed to review it before now.) This one has a bit more violence than the others (or maybe it seems more violent because of the context of war), so see the content information below for more specifics.
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Cultural Elements
All major characters are white.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content Brief kissing between a boy and girl. Finnick reveals that in the Capitol he and other attractive tributes were forced to have sexual encounters with wealthy citizens who purchased their time. Katniss remembers a time a man teased her about buying a kiss from him.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content References to torture. Scenes show some carnage from triggered traps. A net of barbed wire slices up a soldier. A bomb blows another’s limbs off. Bombs kill children and medics. An assassin shoots and kills a political figure.
Katniss and Gale disagree about methods of warfare. Gale believes any violence against the Capitol is justified, since the Capital has used and continues to use awful tactics against the rebels. Katniss believes the rebels must have a higher value of life, and especially a regard for the lives of innocents like children and civilians.
Katniss has nightmares about people who’ve died coming back to haunt her and trying to kill her. She also remembers and sings a song her father taught her about a man talking to his lover and asking her to “meet [him] in the hanging tree.”
Drug Content
Katniss and Joanna takes morphling to alleviate pain due to her injuries. It’s a highly addictive drug and both girls feel the pull of addiction from taking it. Haymitch drinks alcohol.
I’m excited to share some questions and answers with Song of Blood and Stone author Leslye Penelope with you today. Let me first tell you a little bit about Song of Blood and Stone and then we’ll get to the Q&A.
Song of Blood and Stone
Leslye Penelope
St. Martin’s Press
Publishes May 1, 2018
About Song of Blood and Stone A treacherous, thrilling, epic fantasy about an outcast drawn into a war between two powerful rulers.
Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive–an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart.
Jack’s mission behind enemy lines to prove that the Mantle between Elsira and Lagamiri is about to fall nearly cost him his life, but he is saved by the healing Song of a mysterious young woman. Now he must do whatever it takes to save Elsira and it’s people from the True Father and he needs Jasminda’s Earthsong to do it. They escape their ruthless captors and together they embark on a perilous journey to save Elsira and to uncover the secrets of The Queen Who Sleeps.
Thrust into a hostile society, Jasminda and Jack must rely on one another even as secrets jeopardize their bond. As an ancient evil gains power, Jasminda races to unlock a mystery that promises salvation.
The fates of two nations hang in the balance as Jasminda and Jack must choose between love and duty to fulfill their destinies and end the war.
Author Q&A with Leslye Penelope
What inspired you to write this series? What came first: The characters or the world? What was your inspiration for the magic of Earthsong? Were you inspired by other books? Movies?
When I first wrote this book, up until the time I gave it to my first editor, I thought it was going to be a novella. It was always meant to be a fairytale-esque story of a girl’s journey from the margins of society straight to its upper echelons. The characters Jack and Jasminda were there before the world was ever clear in my mind. The first scene I wrote was the one where they meet in front of her cabin. I knew they were from different, warring countries and they came from very different sorts of lives, but that was all. Through the magic of revision (lots and lots of revision) I discovered the journey that the characters would go on and all the conflicts they would face.
I love fantasy and there were so many inspiring series that I soaked in prior to writing the book, from Graceling by Kristin Cashore to Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. But I think this book owes its biggest inspiration to the Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta. Her fantasy world felt well realized and complex, filled with incredibly detailed characters, groups, nations, and settings. But I also wanted to write a kinder, gentler fantasy novel that wouldn’t double as a doorstopper. And mix in a really strong romance like some of my favorites Nalini Singh or Kresley Cole.
What were your favorite scenes to write for SONG OF BLOOD AND STONE? What was the hardest scene to write? Is there a scene or moment that really sticks with you?
Though Usher, Jack’s valet, spends relatively little time on the page, I loved writing the scenes with him and Jack. When two characters have known each other for a long time, it can be really fun to play with how to show their relationship. Usher has known Jack his entire life and so the way they interact is unique. I also loved writing the visions that Jasminda gets from the stone. They were in a different voice, from a totally different perspective and the peeked in on a vibrant, fully formed world that’s different to the one of the main story. Hardest to write were the ones where Jasminda is confronted with the racism and bias of Elsirans.
The scene that sticks with me is when Jack and Jasminda are in the army base and he sleeps on the ground beside her, holding her hand. I find it really sweet and romantic.
What advice would you give aspiring authors, especially authors or color, striving to have their stories and truths shared?
I would tell aspiring authors to really investigate your goals and be frank with yourself about why you want to do this. It’s a difficult path emotionally, creatively, and professionally and what will get you through the low points is being very clear about your “why”. It can also be incredibly rewarding, but knowing what you’re getting yourself into is key.
Writing and publishing are two different disciplines. Your “why” will inform whether you pursue traditional publishing or seek to self-publish. It will keep you going through rejections, delays, bad reviews, disappointment, and the imposter syndrome that we all go through.
The other very important thing is to have a community to fall back on. Whether that’s a chapter of a professional organization like RWA, SFWA, SCWBI, and others, or a Facebook group, critique group, or writer’s circle, having others to commiserate and celebrate with you makes the journey much easier.
Is there a character in SONG OF BLOOD & STONE that you most relate to? How do you select names of your characters?
I think Jasminda represents various aspects of myself both as I am and as I’d like to be. She’s definitely bolder than I am, but her struggle to feel a part of things is one that I understand.
As for naming my characters, for each nation, I asked questions about how the names should generally work. Things like: which prefixes and suffixes are common? Which letters and sounds are prevalent? Which letters or sounds either don’t exist or are more rare? So the Elsirans have a lot of double vowels in their names. Qs, Vs, and Zs are prominent, but there are no hard Cs.
Lagrimari names generally don’t use Js. I set up which suffixes were for men and women and the types of sounds the names would have. There are only 9 last names in Lagrimar, corresponding with the Houses. Jasminda as a name is an exception. Her parents didn’t follow the naming conventions of either country for her or her brothers. Because their interracial relationship was unique, they wanted their children’s names to be distinctive as well.
What do you most hope that readers take away from SONG OF BLOOD AND STONE?
I really just hope readers enjoy the story and the characters. Jasminda is a heroine that I had been longing to see, so I hope people get as much joy and heartache from her story as I did when I wrote it.
Can you tell us more about the next books in the series? What are you working on now?
Book 2, WHISPERS OF SHADOW & FLAME, follows a parallel timeline to SONG. It’s about Darvyn, a character we hear about in SONG who was the Earthsinger responsible for disguising Jack. The disguise’s failure gets Jack captured and he wonders what happened to Darvyn. So in WHISPERS, we find out. But it also pushes the story forward, showing what’s going on in Lagrimar in the days before the Mantle comes down and setting up the next challenge that Jack, Jasminda, and Darvyn will face.
Book 3, CRY OF METAL & BONE picks up the story of how Elsira and Lagrimar deal with the fall of the Mantle and the new threat facing the nations.
I’m also working on a brand-new series with dragons J.
What are your favorite books you would recommend to readers?
Among my favorites of all time are Wild Seed by Octavia Butler, The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay, Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta, Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover, Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor and Sheltered by Charlotte Stein. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it there.
If you could be any character in any book, who would you choose, and why?
That’s a tough one, because characters in good books really go through the ringer and I wouldn’t knowingly sign up for any of that. One of the characters I most admire is Evanjalin from Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta. She amazed me and I would at least like to be her friend and siphon some of her personal strength and adaptability, if not actually walk in her shoes.
Leslye Penelope has been writing since she could hold a pen and loves getting lost in the worlds in her head. She is an award-winning author of new adult, fantasy, and paranormal romance. She lives in Maryland with her husband and their furry dependents: an eighty-pound lap dog and an aspiring feral cat.
About The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily
When Lily Michaels-Ryan ditches her ADHD meds and lands in detention with Abelard, who has Asperger’s, she’s intrigued—Abelard seems thirty seconds behind, while she feels thirty seconds ahead. It doesn’t hurt that he’s brilliant and beautiful.
When Abelard posts a quote from The Letters of Abelard and Heloise online, their mutual affinity for ancient love letters connects them. The two fall for each other. Hard. But is it enough to bridge their differences in person?
This hilarious, heartbreaking story of human connection between two neurodivergent teens creates characters that will stay with you long after you finish reading.
My Review
My favorite thing about this book is the interesting comparisons Lily makes of things. Her way of seeing the world felt different to me than any other character I’ve ever read. She’s spunky and smart and constantly battling herself and the world, and that made her impossible not to love. I liked that she also felt uneven, if that makes sense. She has very strong strengths– her love of literature, her obvious intelligence (though her ADHD made it hard for her to recognize about herself) and the way she values others. But in addition, she has real struggles, too. Her relationship with Abelard was never going to be a typical teen romance. I loved the way they worked around and through the challenges each of them face, for instance, the daily text message exchanges. I always swoon at witty banter, and the text message back-and-forth between Abelard and Lily totally delivered the swoon I was looking for.
Lily’s relationship with other characters also make this book complex and memorable. She and her sister are very different from one another. Iris goes to a school for gifted students, so Lily, who barely passes her own classes, believes herself constantly in Iris’s academic shadow. But it’s really not that simple. When Lily discovers that in some ways she actually casts a shadow herself, she immediately responds with empathy and wonder.
I liked the growth and change in the relationships between characters, and the energetic way Lily relates her adventures. If you enjoyed The One Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti, you will want to check out The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily, too.
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Cultural Elements
Lily has ADHD and Abelard has Asperger’s.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used every chapter or so.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing between boy and girl. Lily also references a desire to be in bed with Abelard. (She phrases it that way.)
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content Lily has a tendency to break things by accident. Abelard bangs his head on a coffee table on purpose in one scene. At one point, a woman becomes angry and throws a glass against the wall.
Drug Content
Lily wrestles with taking her ADHD medication, which causes a number of unpleasant side effects.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
About Catching Fire
Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol – a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.
Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she’s afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she’s not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol’s cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can’t prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.
My Review
I feel like The Hunger Games is a hard act to follow. In that first book, the whole idea of the Arena, the districts and Capitol were so stark and fresh. In Catching Fire, we already acclimated to the brutality and high stakes of Katniss’s world. So only the plot events can be fresh and new.
I thought the characters, in particular the other victors, added a lot to the story. They were very different from each other and different than the tributes Katniss faced in the Arena in The Hunger Games. Katniss and Peeta’s complementary strengths carry into this book, too. His love for her and his savviness with understanding emotions and motives, which Katniss is pretty much blind to, and her ability to solve puzzles and survive dictate their ability to survive the traps the Capitol sets for them. It also makes them a great couple, even if Katniss stays a bit slow to realize what her true feelings are regarding Peeta and Gale.
Side note: I’ve never liked those names—Peeta and Gale. They both seem kind of feminine to me. The names, not the characters. But it has never bothered me enough to interfere with my ability to read and enjoy the books.
In the first book, Katniss uses physical strength to survive the Arena. Here, she has to rely more on her ability to solve puzzles and choose the right allies. I liked the message, again, that violence isn’t the answer. That instead, cleverness and unity can destroy a powerful enemy.
I’ve listened to Catching Fire as an audiobook at least twice, but I think more often than that. I feel like it’s rare for me to find a dystopian series that I like all the way through where the story, characters, and premise all have equal weight and draw. This one probably tops that list for me. Right up there with Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series.
Recommended for Ages 12 up.
Cultural Elements
Central characters are white.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content Katniss and Peeta spend nights together sleeping and comforting one another through nightmares. No sexual contact. At one point Peeta claims he and Katniss have married in secret and she’s pregnant.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content Tributes fight in the arena, killing one another. Some brief, graphic descriptions.
Drug Content
Haymitch spends a lot of time drunk. Katniss and Peeta both squirrel away some liquor for him in case there’s ever a shortage (since it’s against the law to make or sell), which is a pretty enabling thing to do. After receiving some terrible news, Katniss drinks some of the liquor with Haymitch and gets pretty drunk herself.
About Starry Eyes
Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets.
But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.
What could go wrong?
With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety. But fighting each other while also fighting off the forces of nature makes getting out of the woods in one piece less and less likely.
And as the two travel deeper into Northern California’s rugged backcountry, secrets and hidden feelings surface. But can Zorie and Lennon’s rekindled connection survive out in the real world? Or was it just a result of the fresh forest air and the magic of the twinkling stars?
My Review Not gonna lie, I got pretty excited when I started reading this book. I loved Zorie’s hyper-organized planner personality right from the beginning. On top of that, her interest in astronomy had me hooked. I was less sure about Lennon, who seemed maybe too perfect hipster or something.
As the story went on, though, Lennon grew on me. Turns out, he’s not just a sulking, horror-obsessed pretty face. I liked that his expertise both as a hiker and as an employee at a reptile-focused pet store advanced the story.
If I’m being totally honest, though, Zorie kind of disappointed me. I wanted more from her astronomy interest. More stargazing. More about why the stars drew her. I also found myself wishing her knowledge was necessary on the journey out of the woods, too. Instead, I felt like she kind of just followed Lennon around being impressed by his prowess (which, don’t get me wrong, was impressive.).
The parts of the story about hiking were great. I’m not much of an outdoors person myself, but this book made me want to go on a backcountry hike. It seemed like it took some realistic risks into account and showed both the wonder and beauty of nature and its power and ruthlessness.
I struggled with the ending of the story. I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s a family crisis, and I couldn’t connect with Zorie’s reaction. I felt like she mostly whined about being separated from Lennon. It’s not unrealistic for a new love to be so all-consuming, I guess I felt like it was kind of shallow. I wanted her to be deeper, and have a broader emotional range at that point, or at least to admit that she was trying to avoid her problems by drowning herself in Lennon.
One thing I did find interesting was that she simultaneously argues with her parents that her love life (her relationship with Lennon) is not their business, but that problems in her parents’ relationship are her business. The story doesn’t address this directly, but I thought it was an interesting point—it’s easy to tell people to butt out of your own life. When that shoe is on the other foot, though, it pinches. (As a parent, I’m not really on the train that says kids deserve full freedom and privacy. While I’m still legally responsible for my kids, I get to know what’s going on. But that’s a whole different soap box.)
The banter between Zorie and Lennon was great. I also loved the way each character was so individual—even down to the minor ones who barely appeared in the story. It made the cast seem super realistic and definitely upped the tension surrounding some of those strong personalities.
Recommended for Ages 16 up.
Cultural Elements
Lennon has two (lesbian) moms. Zorie’s mom (step-mom) is Korean. She also has chronic hives.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used fairly frequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing between boy and girl. References to making out. References to sex. One brief reference to masturbation. One scene shows characters in preparation to have sex and leads into the act. Zorie makes some lusty comments throughout the book. Most of them are vague, but show her interest in sex and attraction to boys.
Lennon’s moms run a shop that sells sex toys. A couple scenes take place inside the shop among the items there.
Spiritual Content
Lennon makes a couple of jokes about Bible verses (misquoting them for a punch line) and mentions going to church with his mom. Zorie describes the church as more a gathering place for people of many different belief systems. Later, she makes a brief reference to a waterfall being like a god.
Violent Content Reference to a man getting punched in the face.
Drug Content
A teen boy steals wine from a bar while the bartender is distracted. He and another teen get drunk. They face consequences.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
