Showing posts with label Alwyn Hamilton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alwyn Hamilton. Show all posts

Monday, March 13, 2017

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton


Hey y'all! Today I'm participating in the Traitor to the Throne blog tour, to celebrate the publication of this excellent sequel. Check out my favorite quotes below!



About the Book:


Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
Book Two of the Rebel of the Sands series
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 7, 2017

Summary (from Goodreads):

Mere months ago, gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she's fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne. 

When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan's palace—she's determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan's secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she's a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she's been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Miraji, about the rebellion, about djinni and Jin and the Blue-Eyed Bandit. In Traitor to the Throne, the only certainty is that everything will change.



Check out Rebel of the Sands:


(Click on the cover for more information.)


About the Author:


Alwyn Hamilton was born in Toronto and spent her childhood bouncing between Europe and Canada until her parents settled in France. She grew up in a small town there, which might have compelled her to burst randomly into the opening song from Beauty and the Beast were it not for her total tone-deafness. She instead attempted to read and write her way to new places and developed a weakness for fantasy and cross-dressing heroines. She left France for Cambridge University to study History of Art at King’s College, and then to London where she became indentured to an auction house. She has a bad habit of acquiring more hardcovers than is smart for someone who moves house quite so often. Follow her at @AlwynFJH.



My Favorite Quotes:

But then, this was what the desert did to us. It made us dreamers with weapons. (13-14)

**

My mother had raised me on a thousand stories of girls who were saved by the Djinn, princesses rescued from towers, peasant girls rescued from poverty.

Turned out, stories were just stories.

I was on my own. (172)

**

I hated the quiet. I could hear my fears that much louder for it. (265)

**

“You’ve got a lot of experience kidnapping princesses, do you?” Shazad said.

“I’ll have you know that princesses find me irresistible.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “I’m still working on bandits and generals.” (301)

**

"What happened to his other translator?" I asked through what I hoped was a deceptively polite smile.

"He came down with a bad case of broken ribs this afternoon." (395)

**

That smile pulled at the edge of Jin’s mouth. “Have I told you that you’re exceptional lately?”

“No.” I looped the the rope around the edge of the balcony again. “You disappeared on me for a few months without explanation instead.”

Jin spun me around to face him. “You” – he kissed me quickly, on the left corner of my mouth, sending a rush though me – “are” – the right corner of my mouth this time – “exceptional”. (415)

**

He said he would have torn the desert apart looking for me. And I felt in that kiss his desperation as his mouth found mine. (426)

**

Maybe rebellion ran in the blood of the Sultan's sons. (482)

**

And this time, the Sultan had given us an advantage - the only thing that was truly invincible. Not an immortal creature. But an idea. A legend. A story. (512)


(Page numbers and quotes are from the USA hardcover edition.)


The Giveaway:

Enter for a chance to win one (1) grand prize set of Alwyn Hamilton’s books, including a paperback copy of Rebel of the Sands and a hardcover of Traitor to the Throne, or to win one (1) of five (5) paperback copies of Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (ARV: $10.99 each).

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on March 6, 2017 and 12:00 AM on March 27, 2017.  Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about March 29, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.



Follow the Tour:

Week One:
3/6 – The YA Book Traveler – Mood Board
3/7 – Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Author Q&A
3/8 – Love is Not a Triangle – Review
3/9 – Mundie Moms – Review + Favorite Quotes
3/10 – Butter My Books – Guest Post

Week Two:
3/13 – Brittany’s Book Rambles – Guest Post
3/14 – The Eater of Books! – Favorite Quotes
3/15 – Two Chicks on Books – Author Q&A
3/16 – Lost in Lit – Review
3/17 – My Friends Are Fiction – Review

Week Three:
3/20 – The Yong Folks – Author Q&A
3/21 – The Book Addict’s Guide – Traitor Candle
3/22 – Seeing Double in Neverland – Review
3/23 – Bookworm Everlasting – Review
3/24 – Fiction Fare – Guest Post

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Swoon Thursday (#213): Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton


- From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering

- Try to make the swoon excerpt 140 characters (or less), if you are going to tweet about it. Use the hashtag #YABOUND when tweeting


This week, my swoon is from Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton!


So I didn't say anything else as I closed the last of the distance between us.

He said he would have torn the desert apart looking for me. And I felt in that kiss his desperation as his mouth found mine.

It wasn't enough with Jin; it was never enough. His hands were in the mess of my torn palace clothes, trying to find me under the too-heavy stitching and the weight of the gaudy khalat. One hand tangled into my hair, pulling away the delicate gold circlet that still clung there. He freed it from my hair, casting it aside, pulling pieces of the palace away from me, trying to return me to him.

It was like being caught in a wildfire, desperate for breath, like if we stopped we would extinguish. Without thinking, I pulled my hands away from his chest. It took one quick movement for my torn khalat to join his shirt in the heap on the groun, until I was waring nothing but the thin linen chemise underneath.

- eARC, 84%




I loved this book! You can enter to win a paperback copy of Rebel of the Sands HERE, if you're interested. Get ready for the amazing sequel!

Monday, February 20, 2017

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Happy Tuesday, friends! Today I'm participating in the Rebel of the Sands blog tour, to celebrate the paperback publication of this wonderful book. Check out my mood board below!



About the Book:


Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
Book One of the Rebel of the Sands series
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 8, 2016

Official Summary:

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from. 

Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him... or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.



Check out book two, Traitor to the Throne!


(Click on the cover for more information.)


About the Author:


Alwyn Hamilton was born in Toronto and spent her childhood bouncing between Europe and Canada until her parents settled in France. She grew up in a small town there, which might have compelled her to burst randomly into the opening song from Beauty and the Beast were it not for her total tone-deafness. She instead attempted to read and write her way to new places and developed a weakness for fantasy and cross-dressing heroines. She left France for Cambridge University to study History of Art at King’s College, and then to London where she became indentured to an auction house. She has a bad habit of acquiring more hardcovers than is smart for someone who moves house quite so often. Follow her at @AlwynFJH.



My Mood Board:



The Giveaway:

Enter for a chance to win one (1) of ten (10) paperback copies of Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (ARV: $10.99 each).

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on February 13, 2017 and 12:00 AM on March 6, 2017.  Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about March 8, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Follow the rest of the tour:

Week One
2/13 – ButterMyBooksRebel Scents
2/14 – Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Reasons to Read Rebel
2/15 – My Friends Are Fiction – Guide to Bookstagram Featuring Rebel
2/16 – The Reader Bee – 5 Reasons to Look Forward to Traitor
2/17 – Fiction FareRebel Recap Part 1

Week Two
2/20 – USA Today Happily Ever After – Excerpt
2/21 – The Eater of Books!Rebel Mood Board
2/22 – The YA Book Traveler – Fan made Rebel Trailer
2/23 – Lost in LitRebel Book Look
2/24 – Mundie MomsRebel Recap Part 2

Week Three
2/27 – Seeing Double in NeverlandRebel Makeup Looks
2/28 – A Page with a View – Favorite Repackages List Featuring Rebel
3/1 – What Sarah Read – Top 5 Reasons to Love Amani
3/2 – A Book and a Cup of CoffeeRebel Playlist
3/3 – Once Upon a TwilightRebel Recap Part 3

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Review: Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton


Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
Book Two of the Rebel of the Sands series
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 7, 2017
Rating: 4 stars
Source: eARC from Edelweiss

Summary (from Goodreads):

Mere months ago, gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she's fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne. 

When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan's palace—she's determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan's secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she's a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she's been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Miraji, about the rebellion, about djinni and Jin and the Blue-Eyed Bandit. In Traitor to the Throne, the only certainty is that everything will change.

What I Liked:

I've seen reviews from both ends of the spectrum - both positive and negative, satisfied and disappointed. Sequels can be tricky because you'll find a lot of second books in a trilogy, in Young Adult literature, that are awful. This "sequel slump" happens a lot and it's so annoying. But I'm happy to say that I personally did not think that this book suffered from sequel slump. I enjoyed the story very much and I'm looking forward to reading the third novel.

This sequel novel begins approximately six months after the end of Rebel of the Sands. Amani is working with the Rebellion, and constantly putting herself at risk for the cause. She is unexpectedly captured and taken to the Sultan. He has found a way to control her, and so he traps her in his palace. She is under his protection but she is forced to reside in the harem. But being in the palace can work to Amani's advantage - she begins to uncover secrets of the Sultan's, that will help the Rebellion. With a little outside help - and inside help too - Amani begins to feed the Rebellion coveted information. But in a palace and deception and lies, Amani must not underestimate the Sultan - or anyone. She quickly discovers that it is those that seem harmless that are the most dangerous.

At first, I was a little put out when I realized that most of this book would take place in the Sultan's palace, and that Amani would be separated from the group... and living in a harem, under the Sultan's total control. BUT, a couple of things about this. The Sultan has no interest in Amani, except for her Demdji power (she can't speak lies, etc.). Furthermore, he forces her to call a Djinni, but beyond that, he doesn't really make her do much that is totally awful. Do you get what I'm saying? Despite Amani being forced out of her ability (control sand), she isn't forced to do anything horrible, which is one of the things I was afraid of.

Another thing I was afraid of was Amani living in the harem... where the Sultan's heir, Kadir, often frequents. He has like, four wives, and he immediately sets his attentions on the blue-eyed Demdji. But Amani is never forced to do anything against her will, with Kadir or anyone else. I probably would have screamed for the entire world to hear me, if sexual assault or rape made its way into this book. Amani was untouched, I promise!

The third thing I was afraid of was the massive separation. Amani is in the Sultan's palace for MONTHS. But... so much happens at the Palace under Amani's watch, so it didn't really feel like months, and the tone of the story didn't feel desperate or panicky, for Amani. Her time at the palace was never unsafe or particularly dangerous, though there were a few close calls. A whole host of characters are introduced in the palace, some awful, some valuable allies. In any case, the separation isn't so bad because the story really captured my attention, Yes, Amani is separated from Jin and the others for a long time - but so much happens during that time, it doesn't feel hopeless.

And besides, the story has a sandwich-like quality to it. It starts with Amani being with Jin and the rest of the Rebellion group (Shazad, Ahmed, the twins, etc.). Then Amani is captured and taken to the palace. And then, after most of the book, Amani is reunited with some of the Rebellion group. I won't say specifics with the exception of Jin - I feel like I have to say that. Amani and Jin are reunited towards the end. I'll get to them in a bit.

I love how complex and complicated the author has made the story, with this sequel. The plot thickens! At the palace, we're introduced to several of the Sultan's fifty billion children, and the entire ridiculous harem, and many foreign diplomats and politicians. We learn a lot about the Sultan, who has Amani call a Djinni. We get to see betrayal after betrayal, with some characters playing a double role and beyond. It's not only about the Rebellion trying get the throne to Ahmed and unseat the Sultan - there are darker, more infinite forces at work (captured Djinn, for one). 

The romance - okay, I'll talk about the romance. I mentioned that Amani and Jin are together in the beginning, and in the end. In the beginning Amani is angry with Jin because he went off to do some undercover work for the Rebellion... as she was bleeding to death. This was a few months before this book started, but months after Rebel of the Sands ended. Amani is angry with him for leaving her, and then she gets captured, and all of this angst lays between them. But I promise, when they reunite, they hash things out, and they find their way. Amani and Jin have a mess between them, but it's their mess, and while they run when they're scared, they always come back (this is more figurative than literal, though it's a bit of both, really).

No love triangle. There is nothing triangular about the primary romance in this book - it's Amani and Jin all the way. There are other "sub-romances" among secondary characters, which is cool. But I'm mostly glad that Hamilton didn't touch the main ship. Amani and Jin definitely get closer, even with the massive separation. The reunion scenes and the ones following are so sweet and heartwarming.

Speaking of secondary characters, there are so many new characters introduced to the story. At one point, it was a little overwhelming. But the important ones - Rahim (one of the Sultan's sons), Sam (an informant for the Rebellion, and a shameless flirt who is hilarious), even Leyla (Rahim's sister and fellow offspring of the Sultan) - stuck in my mind, and were hard to forget. Some old secondary characters show up, like Shira and Tamid. And then there constant secondary characters, like Shazad and Ahmed and Imin and Hala and Delila - I love this group so much. Shazad is so kickbutt and fierce, and I especially loved her role in this book.

Jin - Jin is one of my characters, despite him being sparse in this book (remember, that is because Amani is at the palace and not near Jin, for the most of the book. Given that the book is told from her first-person POV, we don't get to see a lot of Jin in this book). Jin is still so important to the story. I love how he is like Amani, in that they are both fighters and yet they are both prone to running when things get too difficult. But I like that they both work on this, in the end. Jin is so fiercely loyal to Amani, and so very in love with her. But he is more than a love interest, and this is clear, given his role away from her (when she was in the palace).

Amani grows in her way, given what she has to live with, in the harem. So many jealous wives who want to destroy her, and people in general who think she is a monster - Amani always had thick skin, but living in the palace is an entirely different experience for her. Even being trapped there with no Demdji ability, Amani is powerful. She is clever and intelligent. I liked seeing her character grow and mature, especially without her sandy gift. Keep in mind, that loss is not permanent. Hint hint.

I think I've gushed enough! I know others struggled this one (too slow, too boring, too much separation, too few scenes between Amani and Jin), but I liked it a lot and I think it did the series justice. I love Rebel of the Sands a little more, but I think this one was an excellent follow-up. Props to Hamilton for not ending this book in a cliffhanger (not really, anyway). The ending is actually a pretty good one, given that it's the ending of a book two (usually the end of book two's are all sorts of cruel and unusual). 

What I Did Not Like:

Read my comments above, about the separation. However, of course I'm going to put it down as a dislike. In general, I hate the whole separate-the-female-and-male protagonist crap that YA authors like to include in sequels (specifically book two of a trilogy). I'm so over that trope. The separation wasn't terrible in this book, and the romance is stronger than ever by the end, but still. I hate the separation trope, it's annoying. It definitely served a good purpose here, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. 

For that matter, I expect many, many swoony (and hopefully a little steamy) scenes between Amani and Jin in book three. 

Would I Recommend It:

If you like YA desert fantasies, or epic fantasy in general, this is definitely a book (and series for you). I loved Rebel of the Sands and I personally don't think this book disappoints at all. Of course, you should find out for yourself - because I can definitely see where those with negative/so-so reviews are coming from. This one is a long book but it's such a good story!

Rating:

4 stars. This book did exactly what a sequel should do - go deeper into plot, and set up for an epic showdown for book three. I am so excited to read book three! Hopefully we get it in our hands in March 2018, because I don't think I'll be able to survive for longer than that!


Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Waiting on Wednesday (#191): Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton


"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


This week, I'm featuring:


Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
Book Two of the Rebel of the Sands series
Publisher: Viking
Publication Date: March 7, 2017

Summary (from Goodreads):

Mere months ago, gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she's fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne. 

When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan's palace—she's determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan's secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she's a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she's been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Miraji, about the rebellion, about djinni and Jin and the Blue-Eyed Bandit. In Traitor to the Throne, the only certainty is that everything will change.




Who isn't waiting for this book? I can't wait! It's really cheap on Amazon right now. =)