jbronderbookreviews

Tears of Min Brock (War of Whispers – 1) by J.E. Lowder

Areall crept toward the parchment as if an evil spirit possessed it. “Its beauty is its deception,” she whispered. “Burn it, child. Destroy it or you will curse us. The Cauldron will know. The Cauldron will see. They will come.”

Elabea calmly lifted the parchment from the coals, where it had refused to burn. “How can something so beautiful be evil?”

The Dark War is over. Betrayal, defeat and death forever accompany any mention of the battlefield known as Min Brock. The shining kingdom of Claire is no more. Any hint of rebellion is supressed by the constant drone that echoes throughout the land. The Oracles of the Council of Ebon, the dark lords who feed the perpetual flames of the Cauldron, forbid even mentioning the name of the Only, the King of Claire, on pain of death.

Yet in the night… a whisper comes to Elabea, a girl of 14 summers, who hears and dares to believe there might be more to life than the drone. Accompanied by her lifelong friend, Galadin, Elabea embarks on a dangerous journey to become one of the most powerful creatures in the land – a storyteller. Along the way she must learn to discern the true whisper of Claire from the counterfeit whisper of Ebon. One might lead her to restore light and life to a world ruled by darkness. The other leads to certain death.

The War of Whispers has begun.

My Review

5 stars

The world is a dark place filled with a drone from the Cauldron. No one is to look into what happened at Min Brock or the Dark War. But Elabea hears a whisper that is different from the drone. Wanting to be a storyteller, Elabea wants to learn more about the whisper, especially since it is coming from Claire, a land destroyed during the Dark War. Elabea and her friend Galadin follow the whisper and hope to bring life to the world. You will also meet Lassiter, a boy that also hears the whisper. He is traveling with Newcomb and DeMorley, the minstrel. Will they be able to bring light to this darkened world?

Elabea is a 14 year old girl that is willing to go against the law to bring life back to the dark that has become the world. I really liked how important and powerful the storytellers were. As with every quest, we meet new characters and we face tough trials along the way to Claire. But what I really like were the characters were very realistic. They all had a fault of some sort and they clearly grow along their path.

This is an amazing story. It drew me in following Elabea go against all rules to stop the drone. This is the first book in a series. I can’t wait to read the next book. I also feel really bad that it has taken me this long to get the review written. Sorry about that.

To purchase Tears of Min Brock make sure to visit Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads, and J.E. Lowder’s website.

I received Tears of Min Brock for free from WordCrafts Press in exchange for an honest review.

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The Language of Dying by Sara Pinborough

A woman sits beside her father’s bedside as the night ticks away the final hours of his life. As she watches over her father, she relives the past week and the events that brought the family together . . . and she recalls all the weeks before that served to pull it apart.

There has never been anything normal about the lives raised in this house. It seems to her that sometimes her family is so colourful that the brightness hurts, and as they all join together in this time of impending loss she examines how they came to be the way they are and how it came to just be her, the drifter, that her father came home to die with.

But, the middle of five children, the woman has her own secrets . . . particularly the draw that pulled her back to the house when her own life looked set to crumble. And sitting through her lonely vigil, she remembers the thing she saw out in the fields all those years ago . . . the thing that they found her screaming for outside in the mud. As she peers through the familiar glass, she can’t help but hope and wonder if it will come again.

Because it’s one of those night, isn’t it dad? A special terrible night. A full night. And that’s always when it comes. If it comes at all.

My Review

5 stars

This story is about a man that raised his five children after his wife left them. He is now dying from cancer. Of the five sibling, the middle sister is the narrator. She is the one that they accused of being the dreamer. Things have not always been easy for her and as she waits with her father she relates the different events in her life. Then her brothers and sister come to say their goodbyes without really saying goodbye. But after the pleasantries the old alliances are shown and they eventually leave the middle daughter alone to face the upcoming death of their father.

Losing someone close is always hard and you go through so many emotions from happiness to love to anger to grief. This book has the whole range of emotions as the woman waits for her father’s death. It’s so hard to watch when her siblings are there. They clearly don’t want to have anything to do with the passing of their father and they clearly have their own family alliances that they fall back into. I felt for the woman. She has this heavy burden dumped on her as they leave.

This is a heartbreaking story and at times very hard to read. But it is well written and moving. This is a quick read but one that you will think of for a long time.

To purchase The Language of Dying make sure to visit Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads and Sara Pinborough’s website.

I received The Language of Dying for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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