RED QUEEN OVERVIEW:

RED QUEEN

OVERVIEW

Reviews:

*4 out of 5 stars*

In the beginning of Red Queen the story was slow, and a little bit too descriptive for my liking. As I got deeper into the story I fell in love with the characters. It was simply pure curiosity that got the best of me. Never judge a book by its chapters! There’s a hype for Red Queen and I can certainly see why everyone loves it. However, I have high expectations for the sequel.

- SHELSEA 

Rating: 4.00/5.00 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As soon as I caught the hype over "Red Queen" I knew instantly that it was a book I desired to read. In the beginning everything is exceptionally detailed and well described. Although, at parts it felt a little slow paced, I kept reading sensing the potential of greatness. Thankfully I was not mistaken and I grew to care for the characters deeply. From that point on I could not bring myself to lay my book down for I had to know what was going to happen next. Through out my journey with the exceptional characters and the story I grew to appreciate all the little details given for it made the book and the world come to life that much more. Moreover, the plot twist caught me completely off guard and blew my mind AND I LOVED IT! I highly recommend the red queen if you have yet to jump on the band wagon, I promise, you will not be disappointed as I was not.



"The gods rule us still. They have come down from the stars. And they are no longer kind."

"Anyone can betray anyone."

"Rise, red as the dawn."
-Madii 




"I had high expectations for this book, because I had heard lots of good things! However, I was a bit disappointed in the beginning. The writing style was detailed and interesting, but I felt like the characters were described less than the scenery. As the story progresses, it picked up a bit, but I didn't get that page-turner feeling until over half-way through. I really wanted to like the characters, and their world. There was just something holding me back, keeping me for really caring about them like friends (how I usually gauge a great book). There were some intriguing plot twists, some which I guessed and some that I didn't. I liked how the society was described, and the fact that people are ranked based on actual blood was new and refreshing. I was also torn between Princes until the end ;). Overall, I give this book 3.75 stars out of 5! I think it's a solid start to what could be a great series! I'm sure I'll pick up the sequels eventually, but, it doesn't rank in my top 10 fantasy favorites." 
-JORDAN

Hello world. 

Okay so im not going to lie the first few chapters where really slow. Yes they were written very well and had amazing detail. So I stuck it out and read a few more chapters. Thats when I was hooked. I couldn’t put the faced past book down. I loved all the detail and the scenes. However I wanted  more from the characters. I wanted to know them and be able to see them in my head. I fell in love with the world Ayevard created.

I would give the book 4 out of 5 stars. If the beginning wasn't slow I would have gave it the full five. The kingdom and the Silver blood and the Red bloods was a such a creative plot. The ending left me wanting more.

-ABBEY

Rating is 3.0

"And we will rise up as red as the dawn"

 It took me about a week to read this book, and thats unusual for me, because i read really fast.

I just felt that there was so much hype for this and it didnt quite live up to my expectations.

From start to finish it was predictable, and thats a major turn off for me. 

I couldnt relate with the characters or be "in the moment" with them. The guys didnt draw me to them as others would have in other books that ive loved and read in two days. 

The main character was insecure and lacked confidence and therefore appeared weak and whiny. That makes me automatically right there not love this book as a female reader. Im not bashing this book by any means, im simply stating that it just didnt work for me as it might for others. I felt that the book was over detailed when it didnt need to be and not enough detailed where it should of been. There wasnt enough information about the characters backgrounds for me to connect or love them. The plot twist was something i seen coming from the first chapter. 

All in all. There just wasn't anything in this for me to get out of. 

-Brooke 

Re: red queen re

Casting:

 

 MARE Barrow: Crystal Reed   

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Cal: Zach Roerig  

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Maven: Brenton Thwaites  


----------Playlist:

-Alt-J - Every other freckle 

Florence + The Machine - What Kind Of Man

Banks- Beggin For Thread 

Zella Day - Hypnotic

MisterWives- Our Own House

Kygo- Stole the Show Feat. Parson James

Coleman Hell- 2 Heads

Centuries- Fall Out Boy 

Ezra Vine - Celeste 

Rachel Platten- Fight Song 

Vertical Horizon- Everything You Want 

Matt Hires- Out Of The Dark 

Bastille- Bad Blood 
----------

Pics that inspire:

*pics from Pintrest*

Shelsea's Super Saturday

Hello lovelies,

Welcome to another dose of SSS! If you follow me on my personal book account you’d probably know that I’ve loved reading Broken Skies by Theresa Kay. (If you actually read my captions.) Personally, I feel that my tiny little jumbled blob of a review on Instagram does not do the book any justice at all. I’ve decided to do a decent review on SSS instead. Give the book the proper justice it deserves! Also, I have a special guest on my blog post. She’s a lawyer by day, author by night, and a supermom 24/7. The beautiful and fierce Madhuri Baylock! I’m pretty damn sure she’s my spirit animal. Let’s get this party started, and by party I mean the post.

Broken Skies by Theresa Kay

synopsis << link 

My review: Jax is this kick-ass twin who goes through hell and back to save her brother. Along the way she discovers herself, and realizes that the only person who she needs to depend on is herself.

 In the book you’ll read on how her brother Jace stayed strong for the both of them. He had to be this rock for Jax to lean on. What’s so interesting about Jace’s character is that he does whatever he possibly can to protect his sister. Theresa Kay was daring when she wrote Jace. There are not a lot of books that I’ve read where guys like guys. I'm applauding Theresa for being bold and courageous enough to step out of the lines. 

Although, Jax finds love there are secrets and betrayal that will change her forever. Not only is she  being tested, but boundaries get pushed. I forgot to mention that aliens called E'rikons takeover the world…  Prepare yourselves to be blown away by Broken Skies. 

The story continues in book #2, and I cannot wait to see what happens! It’s the waiting part that I’m not good at. 

BUY THE BOOK

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*plays music* Madhuri Baylock takes over!

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Strength in the Softer Parts

by

Madhuri Blaylock

I wrote this post for a blog series about women and empowerment but love it so much that when Shelsea told me I could talk about anything under the sun for Shelsea’s Super Saturday, my mind immediately came back to this - the softer parts. I finished writing my paranormal trilogy, The Sanctum, earlier this year and am already deep into my next writing project, so if I’m being honest, I hardly thought I would get excited about going back to my fantastical world of hybrid demons, warriors, and vampires for this post. I figured I would need some time away from them, to decompress from the drama of their finale. And yet, here I am, talking about the women of The Sanctum

and you know why?

Because they are such freaking badasses, I simply cannot help myself.

It’s quite fitting actually, since the genesis of The Sanctum lies in my own desire to create the girl absent from the pages of my many and varied fantasy and paranormal books. Not the Badass, because she exists, in so many shapes and forms, on the pages of so many novels and screenplays, kicking butt and taking names after her badassery has been explained to her

laid out and examined

expounded upon and studied.

Nope. I didn’t want that girl because although she evolved into something fierce and proud, she began wide-eyed and unaware, beholden to some secret about herself unlocked by a cute boy.

I wanted the Self-Aware Badass. The girl who knows she is the shit, why she is the shit, and exactly how she became the shit.

Hermione Granger, all grown and sexy.

That’s the girl I wanted to meet, the girl I sought, craved really. And when I couldn’t find her, I created her. And while I was doing that, a funny thing happened.

I created a whole crew of similar women - tough as nails, whip smart, deadly, and full of a sense of self and purpose. Women who knew their worth without a man needing to define it, set the parameters, and provide the explanations. 

Hermoine Granger, all grown and sexy.

Interestingly enough, now that I look back on these women - Dev, Darby Winthrop, and Jools Clayworth - I realize that for all of their feats of greatness, the moments where they felled the antagonist, slayed the devils, and single-handedly made evil think twice, their true strength lies in their softer side.

Their vulnerabilities

and their willingness to accept those weaknesses, because that’s really what they are, look them in the face, understand they are just as vital as all the indestructibility, the super-human strength, the lightning speed

and do not make them any lesser of a woman.

If anything, they make them so very real and relatable and worthy

of all the accolades and hurrahs

the greatness and power.

It’s the vulnerabilities and the weaknesses that make these women whole and complete

grown and sexy.

For I love watching Dev lay waste to the warriors who come after her, felling them with ease, laughing in their faces as she slides her blade across their throats. I love living through her regeneration, knowing her body rebuilds itself after suffering horrific trauma. I love listening to her explain her creation and her purpose and her meaning - her knowledge of self is exhilarating.

But more beautiful than all of that is learning her fears and her weaknesses, her need to appear strong and unmoved, and watching as she accepts the hand offered her and takes a chance, trusting someone besides herself

sharing herself and her fears and weaknesses with another.

The quiet of that moment, its meaning and significance, stay with me long after her story ends. 

Then there is Darby Winthrop, the Southern Belle from Hell, the vampire I love madly. She is brash and sexy, uncouth and deadly. She’ll smile in your face and woo you with her Southern charm, then snap your neck before you knew what hit you. She’ll kiss your throat and run her hand up your thigh, making you all hot and bothered and wild, then she’ll drain you of every drop of blood and leave you for dead.

She is centuries old, smarter than anyone in the room, and stronger than them, too. She is funny and witty and full of life; she is sexy, in touch with her darkest desires, and simply oozes sensuality.

She is power - she wields it, she owns it - and watching her at work, bending men and women to her will and whim is a thing of beauty. But more wondrous than all of that, is learning Darby’s one weakness, for in him, we realize just how truly powerful she is. For in him we witness her capacity to love and forgive and forget, until that is no longer an option and she is forced to do the unthinkable.

And it is beautiful

and painful and extraordinary

and makes us fall for Miss Winthrop harder than we ever thought possible.

Last but not least is Jools Clayworth, younger sister, only daughter, given to fits of jealousy, brat. Superior warrior, killer instinct, natural leader. A roiling mess of insecurities, well hidden but fueling her every immature and petulant antic. Until she can no longer continue acting the child, when her skills on a battlefield are no longer enough, and she is forced to evolve into the strong, determined, powerful leader no one but Jools ever expected her to become.

And still that is not enough to protect her from herself, for she is her own worst enemy. She is her own weakness and when she finally realizes as much, when she comes to grips with all she has witnessed and all she has engendered, and she desperately reaches out to another to save her

it is gut-wrenching and moving

and I, the writer, Jools’ creator, who respected her and her gangsta from day one, but felt little else for the warrior or the woman, am finally able to also love and appreciate her. 

Because sometimes

the true strength of the Badass

the beauty

and the wonder

lies in the softer parts.

                                                 madhuriblaylock.wordpress.com