Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Book Stats:  

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Release date: September 22, 2015

Series:  Gold Seer Trilogy #1

Source: Library

Reviewed by: Kara

Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Gold is in my blood, in my breath, even in the flecks in my eyes.

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend--who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California--where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

The acclaimed Rae Carson begins a sweeping new trilogy set in Gold Rush-era America, about a young woman with a powerful and dangerous gift.

This adventure is a blend of old Western and just a hint of magic (or rather a super-human ability much like our beloved superheroes), but Rae Carson writes just as magnificently with a little element of fantasy as she did in a fully imagined fantasy world like The Girl of Fire and Thorns series. I love the references to local history, especially that of the gold rushes in Georgia and North Carolina, like the note that there once was a gold mint in Dahlonega, GA, (marked with the "D" that Denver now uses). Carson recreates the sense of rural Southern life with deep spirituality, the distrust yet charitable feeling given to strangers, the dangers of the culture especially for women and black folk, and the spirit of the wagon train traveling the Oregon Trail.

Leah/Lee is a wonderful character. She's fiercely independent as she's been providing for her ailing family, but she's also possessed of a strong-will and determination that gives her the fortitude to withstand her parents' murders, masquerade as a boy, and then in the face of hardship travel on her own with little resources all the way across the country. For much of the novel, Lee must rely on herself to get to safety. After she is robbed, she signs on to be a boat hand on a flatboat ferrying people down the Tennessee River through waterways all the way across to the Mississippi. The boat is hired by the Joyner family, and when they reach Missouri, Lee accompanies the Joyners a-ways but is cast out as being a runaway to make her own way to Independence. There, she sees a few familiar faces, and after a few days of not finding Jefferson, Mr. Joyner hires her to manage his wagon and cattle as he only has one other hand. Luckily for Lee, his hired hand is none other than the fellow she's been searching for, her best friend Jefferson McCauley. Together with their wagon train of families, a group of college men, and a group with a large number of livestock, they must travel through the wilderness to make it to California, fighting dangerous illness, mutiny, and other dangers.

I think you'll be surprised how things change for Lee and how, despite being a girl and the cultural attitude towards women, she shows courage, leadership, and responsibility beyond her years and the expectations of those around her. Truly, she's an inspiring role model of a heroine while still staying true to the historical detail. If you liked the Oregon Trail game and adventures, you'll like this book, and stay tuned for book two, Like a River Glorious, as more magic, adventure, and high stakes follow Lee and Jefferson in California.

To read the first three chapters, click here to go to EpicReads. Just for fun, you can also try the name generator for Walk on Earth a Stranger! (For kicks, mine is Jefferson "Crazy" Digger. What's yours?)

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by Tynga at Tuesday, January 31, 2017

 Fantasy amp; Magic, Gold Seer Trilogy, Greenwillow Books, Harper Collins, Historical, historical fiction, Library, Rae Carson, Review, Walk on Earth a Stranger, young adult  2 People left their mark

✎

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

There's been a lot of speculation whether Veronica Roth's new series would match or surpass her Divergent series. Personally, I really enjoyed this new book and although it's still early in the series, it's definitely on the right path. Roth created a rich new world that is out of this world, completely new and very bold. Her characters may be flawed, however, they have strong redeeming qualities that will captivate you.

In a galaxy where the current flows through everything and every living thing, people develop unique abilities once they reach a certain maturity. When this current-gift will develop, no one can predict, however some may say the oracles could certainly take a guess. Three oracles per planet exist, and their ability allows them to see possible futures. They also see fates, the eventual futures of a lucky few. Every citizen has a future, but only a select few are graced with a fate. These select few are considered special, for a reason I can't quite understand. Personally, I would find it restrictive, to live a life based on a certain and unwavering fact.

Cyra and Akos are two of these fate-marked young adults, however, their upbringing could not be more different. Cyra is the sister of a mad tyrant who controls the Shotet people through fear and divisiveness. Akos grew up in a peaceful and loving family. Part of his Thuvhe culture honours the oracles, and his mother just happens to be one. Their two societies couldn't be anymore different and it's from the lack of knowledge and understanding that their two societies have been at war for ages.

The Thuvhe are considered the rightful and controlling nation of the planet, so when the Shotet kidnap Akos and his brother, killing their father in the process, I'm kind of surprised nothing was done about it. For years, Akos was raised by the Shotet, separated from his brother, and the rest of his family, never to be rescued by his people. My only guess is that the Thuvhe are such peaceful race they have no clue how to infiltrate the Shotet to rescue a couple of their fate-marked. Now, as a young adult, Akos is given to Cyra to be her servant, in order to help her control her current-gift. The more time they spend together, the more they learn about each other's culture. Together, the form an unlikely alliance in hopes to overthrow Cyra's brother.

My first impression of Akos is that he's weak. To help and serve Cyra without question, isn't heroic, but I quickly realized that it was all part of a scheme. He's intelligent yet his downfall is that he cares too much. On the contrary, Cyra care about no one, especially her brother, Ryzek, who's taken advantage of her current-gift, ever since their father died. Her father wasn't a better leader, he was just less mad than Ryzek. Cyra's current gift makes her feel pain 24/7 while Akos neutralizes that pain with simply his touch. His gift for brewing tonics also helps control Cyra's constant pain. It seems that their gifts were made for one another, however, it just seems to good to be true.

Divergent fans will love this book because it does have some recurring themes. Carve the Mark isn't necessarily dystopian, but it does revolve around a broken leadership. The characters are in a dire situation yet they work together, and their hope for a better future brings them even closer together. Another similarity is Akos being taken away from his family and trained by another society to become a soldier (however, in this case it's involuntarily). Death, combat and rage are also other themes that mirror Divergent. It's hard not to compare, yet despite their similarities, trust me when I say they are two very distinct stories.

What makes this book so complete is definitely Akos and Cyra. Character building seems to be Veronica Roth's forte and she doesn't disappoint with these two main characters. The world building was also brilliant since she added so much detail to the world, the cultures and the different planets. It's really hard to mention everything, so instead, I urge you to discover it for yourself. Carve the Mark really deserves to be read slowly, since it does have a slow build-up, but it's so worth it in the end. The author was able to blend my two favourite genres, fantasy and science fiction, magnificently and even though it's still early in the year, there's a strong possibility it will end up at the top of my favourites of the year.

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by Tynga at Monday, January 30, 2017

 Carve the Mark, Harper Collins, Katherine Tegen Books, Purchased, Review, sci-fi, Science Fiction, Space, Veronica Roth, young adult  2 People left their mark

✎

Stacking The Shelves [243]

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page!

——————

 Hello Book Lovers! A few new books for me this week, and actually I've already finished one and halfway through another. I'm so happy to be back in my reading groove! Hopefully that means I'll get back into my reviewing groove too.

Purchased

Windwitch by Susan Dennard

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

For Review

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi (Thank you Tor)

First Command by Alex Lidell (ebook)

Library

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

None of these authors are new to me, except Carrie Fisher. I normally don't read memoirs but because I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, and because of Fisher's recent passing, I thought I would give it a chance. And actually, it's very interesting, not at all what I was expecting.

Feel free to share what you added to your shelves recently. Have a lovely weekend!

[inlinkz_linkup id=693448]

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by Tynga at Saturday, January 28, 2017

 Stacking The Shelves, sts  18 People left their mark

✎

The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore

The Fall of Five is Lorien Legacies #4, so there may be spoilers for books #1-#3 in this review.

This is such a cool series!  Teens who are actually aliens who aren't evil and plotting world domination.  No stereotypes.  I like that they're unpredictable.  Since this is book #4, we already know the backstory and we know most of the characters pretty well, so the author is able to concentrate more on plot.  That's fun.

Six of the ten are united and hiding out together in a Chicago penthouse when the book opens.  They're busy working on their plot to fight and defeat the Mogadorians when they get a signal from Five.  Yay!  Finally!  Once they collect him, all living Loriens will be together!  However, things do not go as planned.

The whole "things don't go as planned" bit was actually a bit of a bummer for me.  I don't know if I'm jaded or if I'm just not a teen or if the writing was just a little off in this book, but I saw it coming a mile away.  Browsing some other reviews on Goodreads I see that I'm not alone.  I hate that such a big plot point ended up being too obvious and therefore rather anticlimactic.  I won't reveal what it is, just in case you're able to read The Fall of Five without guessing the outcome.

Five isn't the only character with a big reveal of a plot point!  Tiny, quiet Ten/Ella also plays a large role in The Fall of Five.  I'll admit, in the past I've gotten pretty frustrated with Ten.  She seemed like an overly weak character... almost borderline sexism on the part of the author.  But in The Fall of Five we get to see her strength.  It's a quiet strength, but it's there.  We get to see her struggle with and work through a kind of knotty situation.

While it's exciting to go along with the characters on their quest to save Earth, I also enjoy the quieter moments in these books, when the main characters act very much like everyday teens.  When they tentatively date or go on a joyride or make up silly games.  There are moments where I almost forget that they're aliens!

Overall, The Fall of Five is good but not excellent.  I really enjoyed it, because it's a continuation of a story that I've been enjoying through the first three books.  If you were picking it up without any context you might not like it at all.  I would certainly recommend it to someone who had read the first books.  I just hate that it wasn't very action-full.

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by Tynga at Thursday, January 26, 2017

 Alien Contact, aliens, Fiction, HarperCollins, Library, Lorien Legacies, Pittacus Lore, Review, YA, young adult  Leave your mark

✎

Stacking The Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page!

——————

Hey y'all!  The fam (including myself) have this horrible head cold.  The week started great, with the hubby's fraternity's annual reunion and then ended with this massive head cold.  Boo.  Now I'm going to be #SaturdayLibrarian and #SickLibrarian today.  Ugh.

I'm loving my new job and my new library branch.  Such excellent coworkers!  The commute's the same length, though, so I've continued to take advantage of my library's downloadable audiobooks.  This week I listened to Dream Dark by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, and am in the middle of Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor.  Both great reads!  I'll review them for this blog later.

I also picked up two books about and by Saint Augustine, because they were recommended in Sunday School last week.

And finally, I picked up this cookbook after seeing it in a Wowbray email.  Looks promising!

And you?  What did you bring hom this week?

[inlinkz_linkup id=692008]

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by Tynga at Saturday, January 21, 2017

   19 People left their mark

✎

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

I'm loving this wonderful series set in a fictional small town in South Carolina! The magic is magical and the setting is comfortable and the characters are really likable. Beautiful Darkness is the second book in the Caster Chronicles series, so this review may contain a few spoilers. To read the review of the first book, Beautiful Creatures, click here.

I just about started this review with "this is the first series featuring witches/witchcraft that I've enjoyed!" and then remembered Harry Potter.  But aside from Harry Potter, this is the first series featuring this much magic that I've loved.  The setting grabbed me and pulled me in heart and soul.  The books are set in Gatlin, SC, a small fictional town just outside of Summerville, SC, which is near Charleston, SC.  I grew up in SC!  The authors do a great job representing the state.  I love hearing the descriptions of the food and the culture.  Lena even makes a comment at one point about all the different casseroles that show up on her doorstep when tragedy strikes.  So true!  If someone you loves dies in the South, you can totally expect an avalanche of casseroles to be delivered to your house.  This book happens to take place in June, so there's mention of the climate also.  Again- the authors nail it.  There's mention of the weighty, oppressive heat peppered into the story.  It's all very natural and unobtrusive.  Being a YA book, the action continually moves forward without any lengthy descriptive passages.  Still, the setting itself, with the heat and the culture and the traditional magic (like the Gullah magic that Amma works) almost act as a minor character.

The characters are awesome too.  First, the uniqueness of point of view:  the book is told by Ethan Waite, a non-magical male.  Seems like most of the magical/witchy books are told from the female perspective.  (At least in the YA realm.  I haven't tried any "grown up" witchy books.)  Ethan is such a good guy.  I want to be his friend, and also can't help but wonder if I'd be worthy of being his friend.  He's not perfect- he definitely has some moments- but overall he's so good.  So much better than many actual teenage boys I know.  You can really see the influence of his Amma in him.  I love reading about how much he cares for his family and friends.

Lena is almost a secondary character in this book.  The whole plot is driven by her; is about her; but yet she's not a truly active player in all of it.  Instead, Ethan and Linc spend a large portion of the book "chasing" her.  (I don't want to say too much and spoil anything!)  Just like how the first book was all about a build-up to Lena's sixteenth moon; this book is about her seventeenth moon.  Lena is just as communicative as ever... *insert sarcasm*  And of course you'll have to read the book to find out if she claims herself for light or dark!  It's not obvious:  you'll be on the metaphorical edge of your seat as you read this book.  Along the way, you'll experience lots of Caster magic and all the members of the Ravenwood family and lots of mystery.

I listened to Beautiful Darkness, and the narrator did a fantastic job.  He had a Southern accent that wasn't too overdone or anything.  His pacing and enunciation were spot on.  I would definitely recommend this audiobook.  There were also some sound effects scattered throughout too, which is rare!  They were really well done.  Not too many; not too few.  And each time the seventeen moons song came up, it was actually sung by a female, to music.  I think this is one of those rare cases where the audiobook may actually be slightly better than the physical book!

Overall, a great series and a great book.  Two thumbs up!

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by Tynga at Thursday, January 19, 2017

 Brown Books for Young Readers, caster chronicles, Fantasy amp; Magic, Friendship, Kami Garcia, Library, Little, Magic, Margaret Stohl, Review, YA, young adult  Leave your mark

✎