ARC Review: The Expedition

THEY SURVIVED THE INITIATION. NOW THE REAL TEST BEGINS.

Drayden and his friends thought nothing could be harder than the Initiation. Little did they know it had only been a warmup for the challenge that lay ahead.

With New America’s situation dire, Drayden and the pledges venture out into the unexplored world outside the walls, escorted by a team of elite Guardians. The group seeks to contact another civilization in what remains of Boston, but Drayden has secret goals of his own.

Dangers abound in the real world, including Aeru, the deadly superbug that wiped out humanity. While they battle the elements of a desolate landscape, a power struggle emerges within their ranks. The Guardians seem to be carrying out a covert mission themselves, and the quest turns everything they thought they knew about New America upside down.

 

Review

I recieved a free copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Okay so there was a little issue when I requested this book. Neither Netgalley or goodreads mentioned this was in a series, I double checked because the description looked a little unusual for a stand alone. I emailed this observation to the author and he was very nice and mentioned that he knew about the problem and was doing his best to get it fixed, which it now has been :).

On to the review, since I did not read the first one I am avoiding certain areas since it would be unfair. So the characters were good and I felt like the relationships were strong. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Drayden though, he was rash and put his feelings above the fate of his city. He also seemed to have an attitude, like he should be in charge, he’s menat to be 16 but was acting more like a cross between an adult and a spoilt brat.

The writing was very good, I liked the style very much, there were not any mistakes, it was well edited. The story was easy to follow and interesting, kept me guessing as to what was going to come next. I do feel it was a little repetative though. If you have read the first one in the series then I highly recommend this one.

3 out of 5 stars

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Review: Mother Knows Best

The tale of the legendary golden flower is widely known. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the flower is coveted by an old witch to keep herself young and beautiful. And always the flower is used to save a dying queen, who then gives birth to a princess with magical hair. Not willing to lose the flower, the old witch steals the princess and locks her away in a high tower, raising her as her own. But the princess always finds out who she truly is and manages to defeat the old witch.

And yet this is only half the story. So what of the old witch, Mother Gothel? Where does she come from? And how does she come across the magical golden flower? Here is one account that recounts a version of the story that has remained untold for centuries . . . until now. It is a tale of mothers and daughters, of youth and dark magic. It is a tale of the old witch.

Review

I am a huge tangled fan and I was very keen to see more of Mother Gothel. It was a little bit of a slow starter for me, I have not read anything from the rest of the series and was not sure what to expect. The characters were good and Gothel was nothing like you’d expect her to be, in the beginning she kind and generous and of love. It was interesting to see how things progressed. Since I have seen Tangled I knew how it ended, it was an odd experience knowing how the story ended but not knowing how it was going to get there.

I did find some of the story a little strange. The odd sisters as they were known, were indeed very odd. They seemed to be very selfish and you never really got to know them very well.

I would read more of the series, especially since I think I may have been missing a bigger picture. It is part of a series but you can still read it as a stand alone if you dont mind being left in the dark about a few small things.

I did enjoy this book and will be starting at the beginning of this series.

4 out of 5 stars.