Lily of the Nile

Back of the Book:

With her parents dead, the daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony is left at the mercy of her Roman captors. Heir to one empire and prisoner of another, Princess Selene must save her brothers and reclaim what is rightfully hers...

In the aftermath of Alexandria's tragic fall, Princess Selene is taken from Egypt, the only home she's ever known. Along with her two surviving brothers, she's put on display as a war trophy in Rome. Selene's captors mock her royalty and drag her through the streets in chains, but on the brink of death, the children are spared as a favor to the emperor's sister, who takes them to live as hostages in the so-called lamentable embassy of royal orphans...

Trapped in a Roman court of intrigue that reviles her heritage and suspects her faith, Selene can't hide the hieroglyphics that carve themselves into her flesh. Nor can she stop the emperor from using her for his own political ends. Faced with a new and ruthless Caesar who is obsessed with having a Cleopatra of his very own, Selene is determined to honor her mother's lost legacy. The magic of Egypt and Isis remain within her. Can she succeed where her mother failed? And what will it cost her in a political game where the only rule is win or die?

Selene is the new Queen of Egypt while living as a prisoner in Rome. After her parents died, the Romans invaded Egypt and captured Selene, her twin Helios, and their younger brother Philadelphus are taken to Rome. Dragged through the streets in chains, Roman emperor Octavian shows them off as spoils of his latest war. Selene desperately wants to go home, but she’ll have to polish her manipulation skills to work her way back to Egypt. Unfortunately, the strange hieroglyphics appearing on her arms aren’t helping.

With the help of her brothers, Selene struggles to figure out the magic at work. But growing up in a Roman house isn’t helping. The more Selene tries to bury Egypt and her mother, the more her true self shines through. Selene has magic. And she knows it. But will she embrace it, so far away from home and surrounded by Romans who believe she should change?

Stephanie Dray paints Selene beautifully. Egypt and Rome spring off the pages and come to life. Dray has obviously researched this novel down to the last article of clothing, and that is apparent through Lily of the Nile. But unlike some historical fiction, this book isn’t weighed down by details. Instead it springs into action, enticing the reader from the beginning. Selene is a smart, headstrong character. But she is human in so many ways. She fears and worries and frets along with the rest of us. She pours over her future and struggles with whether to embrace it.

Lily of the Nile is a fantastic book, one of my favorites. It is astonishing that this is Dray’s first novel. I expect great things from this author! I am already anticipating Lily of the Nile’s sequel, Song of the Nile.

The Bad Beginning

            You will notice that this book is not entitled The Littlest Elf.

            There is a very good reason for that. First of all, nothing in this book even closely resembles an elf, or anything elf-like. Secondly, The Littlest Elf is a happy story filled with singing and dancing helpers of Santa who happen to be vertically-challenged, while The Bad Beginning is a terrible novel filled with terrible people who do terrible things to three smart and resourceful children.

            You will also notice that this book begins with a warning, which you’d better heed if you value anything in this life we are given. This book should not be called The Bad Beginning. The words “the” “bad” and “beginning” placed in that order infer that there is only a bad beginning. But no. There is a bad beginning, a bad middle, and a bad end.

It all began on a bad morning on Briny Beach, where three children receive word that their parents had died in a terrible fire, and their mansion melted into a pile of rubble. Newly orphaned Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are shipped off to their relative at the request of their deceased parents, only to find a series of unfortunate events waiting to attack the orphans. Their sly and sneaky guardian, Count Olaf, plots to get his grubby, dirt-under-the-nails hands on the famous Baudelaire fortune Violet is to inherit when she is of age. The children are forced to perform ridiculous chores for their guardian and his terrifying theater troop, receive abuse at the hands of the villainous count, and try to remain optimistic while their life slowly dwindles down the drain.           

 But when things can’t get possibly any worse, they do. The children know Count Olaf is plotting something, but they can’t find out what it is. They must rely on their inventing, reading, and biting skills to uncover their vile guardian’s plot to seize their stack of cash in the bank. But heed my warning: the dreadful, addicting lives of the Baudelaire orphans will compel you to read for days without stop until you have completed every miserable volume.

(Readers looking for happy books...don't look here.)

The Lightning Thief

        Back of the Book:
        Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
        Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.
        With cover art from the major motion picture, this first installment of Rick Riordan's best-selling series is a non-stop thrill-ride and a classic of mythic proportions.

            Percy Jackson knows he’s not normal. Not only does he have ADHD, but he’s also a dyslexic with a bad rep of getting kicked out of every school since Pre-K. He doesn’t feel like he’s good for anything, but everything changes one night when he discovers who his father is: a god. More specifically, Poseidon, god of the sea.

            Oh, the gods are real alright. And they’re angry at him. They think he is the lightening thief, the boy who stole Zeus’s legendary lightening bolt. Soon he finds himself leading a dangerous quest with his friends Grover and Annabeth (satyr and daughter of Athena) to recover the bolt and save his mother, who is the prisoner of Hades. If he succeeds, he will finally mean something to the gods and his father. But if he fails…his mother spends eternity with the lord of the underworld, he will be hunted down by every divine being, and the world will be at a war with itself as Zeus and Poseidon destroy everything fighting over his innocence.

            Fans across the world have been raving over this fantastic series by author Rick Riordan. The Lightning Thief is a perfectly paced, action-packed, mind-blowing series for anyone and everyone. High adventure, excitement, and suspense entice you in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Each chapter is an action-packed suspenseful glimpse of Greek mythology in the modern world. Just one sentence of the book reveals its true identity as a perfect passage into the life of a very special teenage boy.

The Two Princesses of Bamarre

Two princesses, polar opposites, remain trapped inside their palace by an overprotective father. Shy and reserved Princess Addie hides from the dragons and monsters plaguing the countryside while bold and daring Princess Meryl dreams of dramatic adventures saving her beloved kingdom. Fearful Addie never imagined that Meryl’s greatest adventure would be fighting the violent illness that claimed their mother.

            Now Addie must find her courage on a valiant journey to cure her sister. The dragons, spectators, and gryphons, once safely locked inside her storybooks, come to live in the most vivid way imaginable. Gail Carson Levine painted a beautiful world where fear and courage are tested by one remarkable heroine.

            Gail Carson Levine has done it again. She never fails to astonish me. A few friends recommended this book to me, and I devoured it, scanning each page as quickly as possible. Addie amazed me, as did her journey for a beloved sister. The action, adventure, and romance Levine always delivers come to live as one fearful girl embarks on a quest against the greatest monster we are all acquainted with—fear.

The Hunger Games

            From an old Greek myth springs a fantastic page-turner revolving around life and death. Suzanne Collins gave the old legend of King Aegeus of Athens choosing seven men and maidens to be sacrificed to the Minotaur a face-lift in this new, bestselling novel.

            Katniss, an illegal hunter living in a dreary district, fears the upcoming Hunger Games, an event she’s dreaded since birth. A male and female from each district surrounding the Capital must fight to the death in a gruesome arena while the rest of the citizens watch and pray their children might survive.

            Katniss must face her fear, a dangerous strategy plan, and uncharted feelings for a friend as she attempts to survive the ultimate challenge. The ultimate sacrifice. The Hunger Games.

I didn’t want to read this book. I didn’t want to go along with the crowd, who protested that this book was worthy enough to be a best-seller. The book seemed too different for my taste, considering I usually pull a thick fantasy volume off the shelf. After about three weeks of my best friend and my father nagging me to purchase it, I finally did.

They were right to nag me.

The Hunger Games can only be truly described in one word: impossible. Katniss is impossible. The Capital is impossible. The Hunger Games is impossible. Suzanne Collins (The Underland Chronicles) wove an incredible story. The intricacy and intimacy of the novel is mind-blowing. I cannot recommend a better page-turner.

My parents dragged me shopping while I read this. I spent the outing reading on a bench meant for trying on shoes. I couldn’t put it down. It’s that addicting.

Although I did love the book, I found the main character a bit hostile at times. The author intended to make her this way, but at times she agitated me. The story is science-fiction, but not as drastic as some novels can be. It takes place in the future, but the technology isn’t so far from ours and it is easy to understand.

This novel is incredible, and I would recommend it for anyone craving a good book. But beware: once opened, it will be impossible to put down.