Welcome today's stop on the The Summer Marked (The Winter People #2) by rebekah L Purdy Blog Tour hosted by YA Bound Book Tours Today's stop is a review as well as a chance to enter the great giveaway that is being run throughout this tour.
The Review:
I really enjoyed this second book in the Winter People series.
The story starts a month or so after the end of book 1 with Salome happy with her choice to remain in the Faerie kingdom with Gareth and her best friend Kadie, unaware of the most recent events of Salome's life, heading home from Texas after breaking up with her boyfriend and dropping out of college.
Unlike book 1, where the reader found out about the curse and the Faerie as Salome did, in this book from the beginning we are given a little bit more information, of a vague sort, which puts the reader just enough ahead of Salome and her friends so as to not be completely lost along with her, but not enough to spoil the story as it unravels. This adds to the experience as we follow Salome's and now Kadie's story in the world of the faerie.
I liked that we find out more about the nature of the Faerie in this story and see both their darker, crueller side and their lighter (but not necessarily good) side. I also like that we get to see first hand how Faerie cannot be trusted as well as see and learn more about the World of faerie itself. Ms Purdy writes her faerie characters well so we are not necessarily always able to discern which side each faerie character is on and this just adds to the suspense of the tale. Add in the bits of Faerie history we are slowly made privy too which tells the reader there is more to the tale than we were previously expecting and its just going to get better and better.
Ms Purdy layers here twists and turns well in this story so even with the added bit of information we have over Salome and Kadie, we still can't see where the story will lead and this makes it much more exciting.
I loved that we get to see more of Kadie in this story as we find out more about who Kadie is at her heart. We get to see her in greater details than before, her feelings, her strengths and her weaknesses and how her story will affect the main story line andI have to say, I am loving the story line Ms Purdy has set up with her and Salome.
This book is well paced, flows beautifully and you cannot help but not want to put it down until the end. This is one of those books that makes you love a series even more and as soon as you finish it want to immediately pick up the next instalment.
I greatly enjoyed this story and give it 4 stars
Sapphired Dragon XX
The Book
ABOUT REBEKAH L PURDY:
Rebekah Purdy grew up in Michigan, where she spent many late nights armed with a good book and a flashlight. When not hiding at her computer and getting lost in her stories, she enjoys reading, singing, soccer, swimming, football, camping, playing video games and hanging out with her kids. She loves the unexplainable like Bigfoot, the Dogman, and the Loch Ness Monster (lots of good story material)! She admits to still having all the books she bought throughout her childhood and teen years, and she may or may not have an obsession with anything chocolate...
Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook│
Exclusive Excerpt:
Gareth kicked himself back onto his feet. The silver of his blade glinted as he swung it once more. This time the weapon connected with the backs of the troll’s legs, severing the tendons. The troll yelped in pain and collapsed into the ferns.
“Turn your head,” Gareth told me.
My throat thickened, and I buried my face against the horse’s side. Two more loud howls erupted, then all went silent.
“It’s okay, he’s dead now.”
I pulled away from Adaba and stared in horror at the giant head lying in the leaves, its lifeless eyes still glowed even in death. Thick black blood dripped from the foliage. I covered my mouth as nausea overtook me.
Gareth wiped his sword off and hurried to my side. He clutched me tight to his chest. “Shh…just close your eyes and count to ten.”
“I feel sick.”
“I know. Just don’t look at the body, okay? I need you to stay right next to Adaba while I scout out the woods.”
“Wait—you’re leaving me alone?” My voice quivered. I so didn’t want to be left with the severed body. Hell to the flipping no.
“Only for a moment.” He disappeared into the undergrowth, not giving me the chance to argue.
Several minutes passed before he reappeared, breathless.
“Are you all right?” I caught his arm. His skin was slick with sweat.
“Get on your horse.”
“What?”
“Salome, you have to go.”
I swallowed the rock-like lump in my throat. “By myself?”
“Yes—this troll was only a scout. The others aren’t too far out.”
No. This isn’t happening.
“Others? But you’ll be killed. I-I can’t leave you.”
Gareth turned to Adaba. “Take her to the Ruined Court and hide. If I’m not there in two days’ time, get her to Summer.”
Adaba whinnied and shook his mane as if he understood. Gareth sheathed his sword and picked me up, his arms tightening around me. His lips crushed mine with urgency, as if he was taking his last breath. And I clung to him, absorbing his heat and his woodsy scent. When he pulled back, he set me
atop my mount.
“Gareth, please…” Tears streamed down my cheeks. I reached for him, as if that’d really keep him from going anywhere.
He slid a dagger from beneath his tunic and slipped it into the belt of my gown. “Don’t be afraid to use this.”
“Please.”
“I love you, Salome.” He swatted Adaba’s flank, and the horse carried me into the woods.
As we rode away, I heard the distinct sound of heavy footsteps tromping through the brambles.
I jerked on Adaba’s reins. “Turn back. We can’t leave him.”
But the horse ignored my feeble attempts and galloped deeper into the forest. A sob raked through me as I realized that I might never see Gareth alive again.
The Series So Far:
THE WINTER PEOPLE
Author: Rebekah Purdy
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pages: 320
ISBN: 978-1622663682
An engrossing, complex, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore or Maggie Stiefvater, set in a wholly unique world.
Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn’t forgotten their warning to "stay away." For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of
maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
maintaining their estate. This includes the "special gifts" that must be left at the back of the property.
Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, his interactions with Salome take her life in a new direction. A direction where she’ll have to
decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.
decide between her longtime crush Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop. An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.
The Giveaway
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