Brighid’s Quest (Parthalon #3) by P.C.Cast

Brighid’s Quest (Parthalon #3)
by P.C.Cast
Published by Harlequin Teen
Paperback, 512 Pages

Synopsis from the Author's Website:

Fleeing her centaur clan's increasingly militant beliefs, Brighid Dhianna has begun to find peace and acceptance among the humans of Clan MacCallan. Still, she agrees to leave her newly formed friendships to guide her clan chieftain's grieving brother home. As she journeys, Brighid discovers that the long-dormant Shaman blood that runs so thickly in her veins will no longer be silenced. As seductive new powers begin to beckon, Brighid glimpses a future that is more impossible -- and more magical -- than any she could have dared to imagine.

But when tragedy summons her back to the Centaur Plains, Brighid must make a decision that will affect not only her friendship with the humans, but the centaur herd and indeed the world. For the Great Goddess Epona has set her on a new path that demands everything she has to give.

When the whole world is turning to her for help, healing the heart of a warrior doesn't sound so daunting . . .

This is a coming of age book and has a lot of things woven together. After seeing Elphame's concern for her brother who has gone to bring back the New Formaorians to Clan McCallan; Brighid decides to put her clan's chief's heart at peace and takes up the journey to find Cu and aid him in bringing the New Formorians back! But what Brighid does not expect is her struggle with her own powers, finding love and finding her destiny...this journey will change what Brighid Dianna stood for and will stand for, for time to come.

The land is still shrouded in darkness, but the sky had begun to blush in anticipation of the sun...

- Brighid's Quest

Brighid's Quest is the 3rd book in the Young Adult Parthalon Books by P.C. Cast! I had no clue when I selected this book from NetGalley that it was part of a series. I felt sorry I had not read the 1st 2 books because I have come to LOVE Cast's writing. It is so beautiful and vivid! When this book started, I really was a bit confused as I had no clue what was happening. But 10 pages into it and I was reading non-stop. This book is addictive in a way, I cannot explain. I loved Brighid, Cu and Elphame! I love the world that Cast has so beautifully crafted.
I LOVE her lyrical writing... I know I am saying it again... but I think I cannot express my love for this book enough.


Dwelling on tragedy makes grief become like a dipping icicle that begins as a small, harmless silver of coldness. But slowly, as winter of mourning progresses, layer after dripping layer hardens into an unbreakable dagger of pain. 
- pg. 67


The connection between dawn and sunset was like a coin with 2 faces. Alike, yet seperate. Similar, yet not the same. There was a simplicity and rightness to thinking of the two as reflections of one another... beginning and ending... and then beginning again...just another part of the great circle of life.
- pg. 271


Some things in life can't be placed tidly on sides of good or evil. We are often in the midst of a balancing act, where the scales are hopefully tipped toward the good and away from the evil. But sometimes evil wears the face of friends and family. And good looks like the outlander."
- pg. 288

You know that prejudice is not logical, which is why it is so hard to overcome."

Just like a coming-of-age novel, this one is predictable. I mean you know what is going to happen, but how and what all really happens - you have to read the book to really find out! On a side-note, I do not like the cover at all :(

I am waiting to get a chance to read all the books in this series. And I recommend this book HIGHLY!

I hope you guys give this series and this author's other books a try!

Check out the author site - P.C. Cast site

Thanks to Harlequin Teen and to NetGalley for my copy of this eBook!

Sookie Stackhouse, #2 & #3

Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse, #2)

by Charlaine Harris

Published April 1st 2004 by Orbit (first published 2002)

Paperback, 279 pages
Synopsis:

Waiting tables, sweeping floors, reading minds and solving mysteries for the undead. It's all in a day's work for Sookie... 

Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of real bad luck. First, her co-worker gets murdered and no one seems to care. Then Sookie is attacked - and poisoned - late one night by some weird and apparently mythical beast. She only survives because the local vampires roll up and graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it). But in return the blood-suckers need a favor. 

Which is why Sookie ends up in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire, on the condition that her undead friends don't do anything, well, vampiric while she's there. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly...

Holy Cow! I am addicted! I know I am addicted because I cannot stop reading this series! The only other series had this effect was HP and Steig Larrson's. It is fun and I like the fact that it is a fast and engrossing read. It is a happy get away and I am in no mood for "heavy" books right now! And you would be surprised I am done with the 3rd part as well...

Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #3)

by Charlaine Harris

Published May 6th 2006 by Orbit (first published 2003)

Paperback, 274 pages

Synopsis:

Things between cocktail waitress Sookie and her vampire boyfriend Bill seem to be going excellently (apart from the small matter of him being undead) until he leaves town for a while. A long while. Bill's sinister boss Eric has an idea of where to find him, whisking her off to Jackson, Mississippi to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead. When she finally catches up with the errant vampire, he is in big trouble and caught in an act of serious betrayal. This raises serious doubts as to whether she should save him or start sharpening a few stakes of her own ...

I liked this one too!But I thought it was a very stupid reason Bill had to be taken hostage for. Other than that... Go Sookie! Kick all of 'em hard! Oh and I really liked Alcide ;) :)


"It isn't the big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones."— Jean Webster

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure by Allan Richard Shickman

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure

by Allan Richard Shickman

Published July 15th 2007 by Earthshaker Books

Paperback, 160 pages

From GoodReads.com,

The hero, Zan-Gah seeks his lost twin in a savage prehistoric world, encountering suffering, captivity, conflict, love, and triumph. In three years, Zan-Gah passes from an uncertain boyhood to a tried and proven manhood and a position of leadership among his people. Themes: survival, cultures, gender roles, psychological trauma, nature's wonders and terrors.

This is the first time I have read anything in the prehistoric time period. It was a totally different experience and not a bad one at all.
On opening the book, I came across a number of recommendations done for the book by teens in the 10-13 category and there moms. I found this really sweet and I think that if I were a mom, I would just let my teen read it as well, without fretting about the content :)

In this story, we come to know and see a boys transformation into a man and that to a respected and appreciated man. And we get to see that man's flight to recover his lost twin brother. This really is set in the prehistoric times but still holds so much meaning in today's world as well. The lessons of patience, maturity and looking eye to eye with danger to win over it, is all etched through out. Practise makes a man perfect - the age old adage is proved in this little stunner. It is at the same time thrilling to see Zan-Gah go through each of his trials with a lot of grit and you can not help like him and feel for him!!

Definitely a book for your teen, teen friend or for you, if you interested in the genre!

I am already reading the sequel... so look out for a post on that one soon!

"It isn't the big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones."— Jean Webster

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millenium, #2) by Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millenium, #2)

by Stieg Larsson
Published on January 8th 2009
569 Pages
5 on 5!!

From GoodReads.com ~

The electrifying follow-up to the phenomenal best seller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ("An intelligent, ingeniously plotted, utterly engrossing thriller" –The Washington Post), and this time it is Lisbeth Salander, the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker, who is the focus and fierce heart of the story.

Mikael Blomkvist—crusading journalist and publisher of the magazine Millennium—has decided to publish a story exposing an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

On the eve of publication, the two reporters responsible for the story are brutally murdered. But perhaps more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander.

Now, as Blomkvist—alone in his belief in her innocence—plunges into his own investigation of the slayings, Salander is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all.

I read the first installment of this amazing book last year in one night's time. Yep - it kept me up and happening till the early hours. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was definitely the best book that I read last year and this one is again one of the best books of this year!

This book starts off one year after the last book ends. Michael Blomkvist has become very famous after the publication of his book on the Wennerstrom affair. After an year Blomkvist was stll invited to TV talk shows.
A journalist who has been working on the sex trade business for the past 4 years contacts Millennium's Berger and Blomkvist regarding a feature on sex trade in there upcoming monthly magazine issue. But there is a catch, the journo wants his book on the same topic to be published by Millennium who published the book by Blomkvist on the Wennerstrom affair. The book is going to expose a number of people in high positions. Just as the time for publication is nearing, the Journo named Sevensson starts work on a very high - profile bad guy, about whom no data is available.
On the night, the same day when Sevensson tells Blomkvist about this guy, Blomkvist finds both Sevensson and his girlfriend Mia dead in their apartment. It is a big blow to him and the fact that Lisbeth's fingerprints are found on the murder weapon baffles him the most. Next they find one more person murdered and now Lisbeth is been hunted for 3 murders.
As the story progresses, we get to know more about Lisbeth's dark past and how she must find the one person responsible for the triple murders.

She sat still for a long time staring into space. Nobody was innocent. There aer only varying degrees of responsibility. And somebody was responsible for Salander.
-p. 552

Blomkvist's undying faith in the innocence and Armansky's drive to prove her innocence, Lisbeth soon finds out about people who believe in her. And the most amazing is the support of her previous guardian, a previous boxer friend and her girlfriend - all trying in one way or other to prove her innocence.

There are facts that will AMAZE you and you will find connections that you didn't know existed. Lisbeth is the tainted - imperfect heroine you will sure feel for and love.

I cannot recomend this trilogy enough. And I am sad that the author didn't live to write more. May his soul rest in peace!

My Book Saga Challenge...!!!

I am Taking up a Book-Series Challenge. I have summed up a list of Book Series, depending Upon their popularity, Reviews and Suggestions.

The highlighting factor is, I have completed most of the books in these Series and I have made it up. Its open for anyone, who wants to take it up.

Harry Potter Series - By J.K. Rowling

7 / 7 Books. 100% done!

Twilight Saga - By Stephenie Meyer (will update once 5th book comes)

2 / 4 Books. 50% done!

Lord of The Rings - By J. R. R. Tolkein

.5 / 3 Books. 17% done!




The Chronicles of Narnia - By C. S. Lewis

7 / 7 Books. 100% done!




The Bourne Series - By Robert Ludlum (Will update if a new comes up)

1 / 8 Books. 13% done!

Replica - By Marilyn Kaye

7 / 24 Books. 29% done!

• Anyone can take up this challenge
• Suggestions of Book Series are welcome
• Please Leave acknowledgments in the comments section.
• The Challenge Finishes... 11 Jul'09
• Have Fun...!!! :))