Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

If I had been asked to think up a title for this book I would have gone with “The Amazing Misadventures of a Post-Apocalyptic Teenage Midwife!” and the exclamation mark would have been non-negotiable. But that’s probably one of the reasons I’m not a successful author and Caragh M. O’Brien is (other reasons include a severe procrastination and a fear of post-it notes)

In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the walled Enclave and those, like sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone, who live outside. Following in her mother's footsteps Gaia has become a midwife, delivering babies in the world outside the wall and handing a quota over to be "advanced" into the privileged society of the Enclave. Gaia has always believed this is her duty, until the night her mother and father are arrested by the very people they so loyally serve. Now Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught, but her choice is simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying.(Courtesy of Goodreads)

 

I do love my Post-Apocalyptic stories but a lot of the time you tend to get stuck with the same beautiful rebellious people who enter stage left ready to fight for Truth, Justice and Freedom for all! The actual logistics of maintaining Truth, Justice and Freedom for all in the aftermath is usually someone else’s problem, what do you expect? We blew up the bad guy, job done, applause accepted.

 

Gaia Stone is not beautiful, in a society that strives for perfection in everything (even genetics) her scarred face and position outside the wall in the shanty town of Wharfton mark her as not only unremarkable but a target for disgust and ridicule. She’s not even burning inside over the injustice of these babies being taken away from their mothers and handed over to the privileged few inside the walls; who have riddled their own children with genetic deformities thanks to their own decades of snobbery and generations of inbreeding. She doesn’t like it but she believes they’ll be better off where there are schools and plentiful food and water.

 

No, if the Enclave’s Protectorate hadn’t bothered to arrest her parents and threaten to execute them for no apparent reason, then Gaia Stone would have dwindled out all her days in Wharfton, delivering babies, advancing the unlucky few to the Enclave and being generally ignored or teased about her face. But her parents are taken and her decision to go find them forces Gaia to become someone incredible.

 

She makes plenty of mistakes, has tendency to barrel into situations when she thinks she can help and is not above falling prey to hopelessness and despair. And yet it’s these qualities and more that encourages so many people to help her along her way, she has a gift for inspiring the best in people. And none more so than the Protectorate’s advanced and disowned son Leon Grey, Captain of the Guard and all round mysterious hot loner dude.

 

It would have been so easy to just make Leon a nicer, funny, more likeable boy but Ms O’Brien doesn’t do easy, she does tough, like Grandma’s roast beef tough. He can be cold, secretive and refuses to sugar coat anything even when faced with the sight of a young shackled girl begging him for help. But there’s a crack of compassion in him that only Gaia manages to worm inside and pry open and when she does it’s almost magical. That boy is responsible for one of the most romantic fruit based gestures I have ever read (admittedly the competition is limited).

 

I’m now well on the way to finishing the third and final book and I cannot describe how exciting the Amazing Misadventures of a Post-Apocalyptic Teenage Midwife! can be. Also turns out I’m learning quite a bit about midwifery, weirdly it’s given me a new respect for midwives everywhere, although I doubt the ladies on One Born Every Minute ever had to deliver a baby while on the run and being chased by Enclave guards. Much respect if you have though.

The Emperor's Edge Novels By Lindsey Buroker

Firstly let me just say that I stumbled on Lindsay Buroker by accident. Like a morosely drunk bridesmaid who went looking for a place to cry and instead found Narnia.

Upon finishing the very wonderful The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke I decided I wanted more and I wanted it immediately, but searching ‘The Assassin’s Curse’ in Goodreads (I forgot her name and I’m lazy) brought up instead a short story by one Lindsay Buroker. What is this? An Emperor’s Edge novella?

And that’s all it took, Emperor’s Edge, the phrase alone conjured up hopes for adventures, questionable miscreants, political machinations and loveable rogues. So I dived into book one, actually called The Emperor’s Edge (which is free in e-book form) and was utterly hopelessly lost in love.

Book 2

Imperial law enforcer Amaranthe Lokdon is good at her job: she can deter thieves and pacify thugs, if not with a blade, then by toppling an eight-foot pile of coffee canisters onto their heads. But when ravaged bodies show up on the waterfront, an arson covers up human sacrifices, and a powerful business coalition plots to kill the emperor, she feels a tad overwhelmed.

Worse, Sicarius, the empire's most notorious assassin, is in town. He's tied in with the chaos somehow, but Amaranthe would be a fool to cross his path. Unfortunately, her superiors order her to hunt him down. Either they have an unprecedented belief in her skills... or someone wants her dead (Courtesy of Goodreads)

Even just re-reading that blurb a whole year after I started this series gives me a wobbly thrill. Never before have I wished I could forget everything I knew about a book just so I could enjoy it all over again (I’m sure I have and I’m exaggerating but, seriously, I can’t think of any other books that make me feel that way right now, they have all ceased to matter).

Book 3

Each book follows the thoughts of Amaranthe and, from book 2 onwards, one of her rag-tag team of freedom fighters which allows each story to open up so much more to the reader than a single point of view could manage. It also makes for spectacular segways when the team splits up (either by Amaranthe’s design or more usually when something explodes or goes horribly wrong).
It’s difficult to do these stories justice, I could go on about how wonderfully entertaining Amaranthe is with her diabolical plans and optimistic intentions, how brilliantly refreshing the enemies and problems they face are or how perfectly formed her team of noble miscreants become over the course of their many adventures.

Book 4

And ADVENTURES! Oh how I love books with actual adventures. Proper swinging from ropes, blowing up lairs, facing down beasts, royalty rescuing (or kidnapping), train hijacking, cross dressing adventures! Where grandiose plans go awry and last minute heroics and all the luck in the world is only enough to scrape free with your life. And maybe your boots. Possibly someone’s underwear.

Speaking of delicates, there is also romance to be had. Because it is not a proper adventure if there are no heart stopping moments that make you want to stand up on the bus and yell at your kindle “I demand you two to bloody well kiss!”. Possibly to the astonishment of your fellow passengers.

Book 5

Sicarius would have been an almost impossible character to romanticise, he has killed and kills a lot of people, most are deserving but some are not, hardly a man you would like to get snuggly with (unless you’re one of those psychos who writes love letters to death row inmates, you should talk to a friend, choose a nice hobby, get a pet).

His face is a blank page, he is a brutally economical with his words and would easily slaughter dozens of people if they had the misfortune to stand in his way. But somehow, over the course of the stories Ms Buroker manages to build a real person out of all the little moments and snippets he shares with everyone and she does it properly by making his faults real, serious issues that Amaranthe has to acknowledge and accept, rather than just saying “oh he had a tough past but he is super dreamy. Swoon!” I love these two, they are not perfect for each other but they are for each other, and that is better.

Book 7

Book 6

As I said the first book is free to download and if you like what you read then you have the joy of reading all 7 books plus all the short stories in between (which you should, every word of them only adds value to this Universe) and when you are done and you look back with fondness on all the shenanigans, mishaps and derring-do’s … well then you can come join me while I wait for whatever Ms Buroker writes next. Bring snacks.

Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

Lies!
So I actually love this cover, it tells me exactly what this book is about. Fierce Chinese girl being all magical and shizz? That is a cover that is made of awesome. It is not, however, the cover I had on my copy. A cover so woefully inadequate and it had next to nothing to say about the story inside and that I am frankly too ashamed to feature it at all. But if you would like to see the terrible cookie cutter emo version please take a look and perhaps you can explain to me why anyone would choose to replace the gloriously pink one here with that vague wishy washy disaster.

Light Bites
Ai Ling seems to be un-marriageable, a succession of weak willed boy suitors have turned her down and it seems to have something to do with the rumor that her beloved father was once cast out of the Imperial palace in shame many decades ago. Then one fateful day he is suddenly summoned to return to the palace, months pass and there is no word. While her mother and Ai Ling try to make ends meet an elderly and gruesome merchant attempts to claims Ai Ling as his fourth wife. Rather than face a life squeezing out his children she runs away to find her father and bring him back. But, unbeknown to Ai Ling, her journey will be fraught with dangers straight out of the books of demons and ghosts her father always tried to stop her from reading as a child. And help joins her along the way in the form of the honorable and mysterious Chen Yong and his amusing brother Li Rong.


Cheery O-So Good To Eat
I cannot stress enough how much I loved this book. It's one of those wonderful old fashioned adventure stories that are so hard to find these days amongst all the high school weregoats and sexy vampire tax collectors. Ms Pon has created this rich and fragrant world filled with a vibrancy that bursts into your brain like a hot spring roll. I could see every character, no matter how small or inconsequential to the story, and she manages this with only a few choice words.

The demons Ai Ling, Chen Yong and Li Rong encounter were genuinely scary, a few times I found myself physically recoiling from the descriptions of their appearances and appetites. Maybe not a book to read in public cos you'll certainly find yourself gasping and cheering out loud through the fight scenes. And DEFINITELY not a book to read if you're hungry, Ms Pon knows how to write food and make you want that food immediately! I will also be eternally grateful to her for including her mother's recipe for Vegetarian Mapo Tofu in the extras at the back, which I will definitely attempt one day!

"It was a feast more then a midday meal. Master Tan must have asked his chef to prepare the best. Ai Ling could not recall a time that she had indulged in dishes this extravagant: roasted pheasant, tender spring vegetables, hand pulled longevity noodles, spotted porcelain river crabs, and emperor lobsters, named for their large size - dish after dish was brought to the table.

At the end of the meal, Master Tan stood to give a toast.

'Ai Ling, we wanted to send you off with a full stomach. May you never go hungry, even during your travels.'"

And she most certainly doesn't, I do love a character that enjoys food. In fact I love Ai Ling for a whole host of reasons, she's smart, she's curious (which does get her into trouble more then once but nothing ventured...) she's tough and she certainly holds her own in a fight regardless of the two strapping lads who accompany her. And speaking of which, Chen Yong is a sword wielding gentleman made of swoon, all serious and brooding one minute and lighthearted and tender the next. Ai Ling's affections, understandably, swing to him like he's magnetic north but she never moons over him which I liked, she just nurtures her feelings quietly which was rather classy. I also had big love for Li Rong, the hilariously amorous little brother of Chen Yong. Li Rong is a total ladies man (or he thinks he is anyway) and his big mouth lets fly some classic lines that had me snickering like a little kid hearing the words poo and boobies in the same sentence.

As soon as I finished this book I wanted to run out into the streets and press it in to the hands of the first person I saw, urging them to read it too. This book really had everything I wanted from a story and the best part is that the next installment Fury of the Phoenix is already out! And it's my birthday on Thursday.........hint hint.