Fun Fiction Friday - August 17th, 2018

Fun Fiction Friday
August 17th, 2018

Welcome back to Fun Fiction Friday.

In my Fun Fiction Friday I share the books the older girls and I are reading, and a short review of a Young Adult or Juvenile book I have finished, if applicable. I will also ask the girls to tell me something they would like to share about at least one of the books they are currently reading.

The girls are actually still reading the same books as last week.

Tabitha is currently reading the following books.

The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer takes place a year after the first book ended. I won't let Tabitha tell me much about it right now, as I plan on reading it when she is finished.

The Keeper of the Lost Cities: Exile by Shannon Messenger is the second book in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. Which I have mentioned previously. I will be sharing my review of this book at the bottom of this post. 

Amelia is still reading the following three books.

She decided all those books sounded interested, so is attempting them all. We'll see how this goes. She is a little ways into all three books.

As a family, we are still reading A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond  as it goes along with our review of the literature study of Paddington from Branch Out World. I actually posted that review last week.

We are also on the third book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series titled, The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan.

The girls and I will also be taking turns reading the following books for review. I don't think I will do these are read-alouds, mainly because we already have two going on as it is.

I am still reading House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo, but I have sort of set it aside to reread the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. I am almost finished with the third book, Keeper of the Lost Cities: Everblaze.

After I finish that book, I will return to the other books I have out from the library, as there is still quite a wait for the next three books in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. These books are quite popular, but unfortunately our entire library system only has a couple of copies of each.

Fun Fiction Friday

Book Review

In this series Sophie, who was brought up by a family of humans until she was 12 year old, suddenly finds out she is an elf, and part of a magical world that keeps itself separated from the human world. She also finds out she has a very important role to play and has more powers than most elves, though all have different skills, and the majority have at least one special ability.

Exile starts off a few weeks after the first book ends. Sophie has now finally found her place and feels accepted in her new world and most importantly with her family. She is becoming more comfortable with her Telepathy, yet is still trying to get used to the new ability she discovered she had at the end of the first book. Though she isn't pleased to realize she is an Inflictor, she can at least remain at Foxfire thanks to this new ability.

Sophie also makes a new friend in this book, an alicorn who only she can comfort and control at the start. This alicorn is terribly important to their world, and a lot of the story revolves around her and Sophie's relationship with her.

Unfortunately, she is also struggling with severe headaches, and it is soon discovered that something isn't quite right with her. She feels she is "malfunctioning" and is desperate to find out what is wrong with her, especially after something terrible happens to a dear friend who she was supposed to be helping with a classified task. Everyone has given up on him, yet she keeps hope alive, desperate to save not only him, but the one she feels she was "created" to save in the first place. 

Between dealing with the alicorn, struggling with the heartbreak of what happened to her friend and mentor, starting a second year at Foxfire with all its new challenges, and trying to figure out the mystery of the Black Swan and how they are related to her and her adopted family's daughter, Sophie has quite the stressful time in this second book. The mystery of the Black Swan is quite intriguing. Are they friend or foe? Why did they help her at the end of the first book, yet are feared to be dangerous rebels? If the Black Swan aren't the "bad guys" then who really are the ones they should fear? In a world where there was supposed to be such peace, there are a lot of secrets to uncover and truths to find out.

Shannon Messenger continues to build this world wonderfully, adding to what we already know and introducing the reader to just enough to keep us wanting more. Poor Sophie continues to go through quite the heartbreaking struggles, yet we see her strength and determination, though she does tend to keep too many secrets from her parents and at times her friends. However, there are consequences, so she knows she can't just get away with doing wrong.

I love this second book in the series. If you couldn't tell, seeing as my daughter and I were "fighting" over who would get to read it. She is also enjoying it very much.

Next week I will share my review of Everblaze.