Book Review: The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

Title: The Kingdom (Graveyard Queen #2)
Author: Amanda Stevens
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: 03/24/2012 (not soon enough, trust me)
ISBN: 0778312771





This book almost made my grades drop. Why? Because initially I had to read this book in little sips while I focused on my classwork. Eventually the plot and tension in this book got so intriguing that I finally couldn't take it any more and tossed my textbooks to the side in order to finish it. I imagine that I'm not the only one who did this. Whether it's housework, schoolwork, or sleep, you'll find yourself putting off other tasks so you can finish this book!

Deep in the shadowy foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains lies a dying town…

My name is Amelia Gray. They call me The Graveyard Queen. I've been commissioned to restore an old cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina, but I'm coming to think I have another purpose here.

Why is there a cemetery at the bottom of Bell Lake? Why am I drawn time and again to a hidden grave I've discovered in the woods? Something is eating away at the soul of this town—this withering kingdom—and it will only be restored if I can uncover the truth.

I absolutely adored this book, most specifically Amelia. While she does have the dubious "gift" of being able to see ghosts, she's not one of those overly aggressive "my way or the highway" female characters that wield their supernatural talent like a +4 battleax against the enemy. Nor is she a wilting flower that relies on anyone (male or otherwise) to do the job for her. Best yet, she's not the type of girl who is going to sit around and mope after a guy. Amelia reflects and maybe mourns some of the guy trouble in her life, but she isn't going to let it overwhelm her- especially not when there's work to be done and danger to avoid. She's someone that I could imagine stepping out of the pages and existing as a regular human being. It's really refreshing to see a character who isn't an invulnerable sexpot (looking at you, Anita Blake) or someone that completely requires others to save her. (OK, Bella- this one was aimed at you, not that you could really help it. Sparkly vampires are surprisingly vicious.)

It also helps that the plot in this is so engaging. There's sinister pasts, mysterious graves, and mountains with giant hex symbols carved into them. (For more information on hex symbols, click here.) These are exactly the sort of plot ideas that instantly draw you in and make you want to read it. Rest assured, this book won't disappoint you. I particularly loved the attention to detail that Stevens put into everything. There's a lot of questions answered in this book but then we get a whole host of new ones to think about, as well as a few new characters that I hope to see in future volumes.

If you haven't read the first volume, it's not an absolute necessity since so much of this book takes place in another town away from the happenings and people from The Restorer. I do recommend it, though. It's not only going to help explain some of the references that are brought up, but it's also a pretty entertaining read. If you're reading this review after the book has been released and you just can't wait to get your hot little hands on this book (or bought it without knowing it's book #2 of a series), Stevens does explain enough to where you won't be completely lost.

Overall this is one of the best books I've read this year (OK, it's February, but still). Stevens has always been an up and coming writer that I've loved, but this book shows how far her writing has come along. She's no longer an "up and coming", Stevens is already here and here to stay.

5 out of 5 stars (Freaking loved this book! I'm actually sorry that my ARC has to expire.)

(ARC provided by NetGalley)
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P.S.- If you're curious about Steven's writing, she has a whole host of other books that are already out (including the first Graveyard Queen book). There's also a free Kindle version of the prequel to the GQ series, which you can find here. (Click here)

Want exciting books to review? Try Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab program!

Are you hankering to read some of the best fiction out there? Love authors such as Holly Black, Becca Fitzpatrick or other great names in the business? Then you should read up on a new reviewing program run by Simon & Schuster called "Galley Grab".

It's open to anyone who is a "bookseller, librarian, teacher, journalist, blogger, producer or other publishing professional", which is a pretty open ended list. So far I've heard nothing but great things about it. If you're curious about the program here's a list of FAQ for you. You can also sign up for the service via their website at this address here.

I've received a pretty interesting title from them, Brandon Mull's latest novel A World Without Heroes. While it ended up not being my cup of tea, the writing in it is FANTASTIC & I can predict that this will easily be hitting the top ten of most young adult fiction lists.

UPDATE:

I got emailed with an incredibly good question:

"Do you get to choose the galleys you get?"

Unfortunately the Galley Grab program doesn't allow for you to pick & choose which books you receive. A representative for the company will review your blog & whatever sources you provide (I'm guessing if you link to goodreads, they'll glance at your goodreads), then choose a book that is within the same types of genres that you read. From what I've seen of the various people who have received books, they're pretty good about choosing things similar to what you like.


UPDATE 2:

The company is now putting out a newsletter type setup where you can choose your book from a list. I'm not sure if the list is targeted or not but I can definitely say that when I got mine I was pretty enthusiastic about some of the choises they gave me. (I was especially happy about Holly Black's Red Glove being on the list!)

December Giveaway: Real Live Boyfriends & The Flappers!

Hi all! Time for this month's giveaway!

This month I'm giving away another two books to two lucky people because hey- it's the holiday season & it's the time to be generous!

The first book is called The Flappers: Vixen by Jillian Larkin!

Jazz . . . Booze . . . Boys . . . It’s a dangerous combination. Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they? Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . . Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . . . From debut author Jillian Larkin, VIXEN is the first novel in the sexy, dangerous, and ridiculously romantic new series set in the Roaring Twenties . . . when anything goes.

The second book is called Real Live Boyfriends* & is by E. Lockhart!

Ruby Oliver, the neurotic, hyperverbal heroine of the The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, and The Treasure Map of Boys, is back! Ruby Oliver is in love. Or it would be love, if Noel, her real live boyfriend, would call her back. But Noel seems to have turned into a pod-robot lobotomy patient, and Ruby can’t figure out why.Not only is her romantic life a shambles:Her dad is eating nothing but Cheetos,Her mother’s got a piglet head in the refrigerator,Hutch has gone to Paris to play baguette air guitar,Gideon shows up shirtless,And the pygmy goat Robespierre is no help whatsoever. Will Ruby ever control her panic attacks?Will she ever understand boys?Will she ever stop making lists?(No to that last one.) Roo has lost most of her friends. She’s lost her true love, more than once. She’s lost her grandmother, her job, her reputation, and possibly her mind. But she’s never lost her sense of humor. The Ruby Oliver books are the record of her survival.

Both of these awesome books are ARCs (one of which hasn't come out yet) & you could win one of them!

How do you enter? Well, one of two ways:

1) Follow my blog.
2) Enter via the linky entry below.

I'll be choosing one winner from each entry format!

The contest is going to run from now until December 17th at midnight.

Book Contest: Win a copy of James Patterson's Don't Blink!

Hi all!

Since the last contest went over so well, I've decided to try another contest! This time you have the chance of winning an advance reader's copy of James Patterson's new book Don't Blink!

Here's the book description:

The good

New York's Lombardo's Steak House is famous for three reasons--the menu, the clientele, and now, the gruesome murder of an infamous mob lawyer. Effortlessly, the assassin slips through the police's fingers, and his absence sparks a blaze of accusations about who ordered the hit.

The bad

Seated at a nearby table, reporter Nick Daniels is conducting a once-in-a-lifetime interview with a legendary baseball bad-boy. In the chaos, he accidentally captures a key piece of evidence that lands him in the middle of an all-out war between Italian and Russian mafia forces. NYPD captains, district attorneys, mayoral candidates, media kingpins, and one shockingly beautiful magazine editor are all pushing their own agendas--on both sides of the law.

And the dead

Back off--or die--is the clear message Nick receives as he investigates for a story of his own.Heedless, and perhaps in love with his beautiful editor, Nick endures humiliation, threats, violence, and worse in a thriller that overturns every expectation and finishes with the kind of flourish only James Patterson knows.


All you have to do to enter is post here on the book thread! It can be about anything you like!

On Friday 10/15/2010 I'll post the winner, so check back with me to see if you won!

If you have any questions, email me at geniebrownhair (at) hotmail (dot) com!

Win a copy of Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK!

Greetings, fellow book fans!

In honor of Banned Book Week & especially because there are idiots out there that would ban this book from schools, I'm giving away a free copy of the platinum edition of SPEAK. That's right, you can own a copy of the book that's causing all of this fuss.

Not only that, but I'm also giving out an advance reader's copy of Sarah Mlynowski's Gimme a Call. While this is already available on shelves, the copy I have is a reader copy that was only circulated to bookstores, reviewers, & such.

Already have one or both of these books? That's OK- enter anyway & pass this awesome book along to one of your friends!

To enter the contest, just post to this blog by October 4th (next monday) & give some love to both of these great authors or talk about your feelings about book banning! In about a week I'll choose one of the posters & mail them their free books! If you see your name in next week's blog, just drop me an e-mail at geniebrownhair (at) hotmail.com!

Netgalley: It'll make you go broke!

Love reading? Love reviewing? Then you need to get in on NetGalley.

NetGalley is a site that allows professional reviewers, booksellers, & librarians access to electronic ARCs (advance reader copies) of some of the hottest new books that are out or going to be coming out. The best part? It's green. No paper is used to make these ARCs & there's no worry about having a huge amount of books left sitting around. If you have an e-reader you can easily put these books onto your reader, although I've read that Kindle users might have to pay a fee depending on how they send their book to their reader. (I've heard that by resetting the maximum payment amount you can get around that. It just takes a little longer.) Otherwise you can view these books on your computer through adobe or NetGalley's internet viewer.

I know that I review a lot of romance & fantasy here, but you can get all sorts of books from there. Nonfiction as well as fiction. Plus I have to say that so far I've loved all of the books I've requested from there. I've yet to read anything that I've disliked.

The only problem? You'll go broke because you'll want to collect all of the other books that these authors put out.