UK vs. THE WORLD! (11)

UK vs. The world is a weekly meme I made up lol.

It's simlair to UK vs. US except the UK covers are battling it out with their foreign counterparts from all over the world, because who doesn't love judging books by their covers!



UK                           vs.                 Romania

Eve by Anna Carey

Eve book one.

Mist: Hmm well I do like the Romanian cover but I don't think it suits the book, whereas the UK one does and it's a lot more animated and I like the colours better, definitely a UK win for me.

Ninfa: So difficult to choose, both covers are lovely and so similar in concept. The UK one is really haunting, we can mostly see this bridge stretching in front of the model and the greenish colour almost makes me feel like she's walking through a mist. The Romanian cover has again the bridge, though you can see the model's face. I love her hair and the windswept look, as well as the faint image of the moon above. I think by a small fraction it's a Romanian win.

UK                               vs.                    France

 Fire and thorns by Rae Carson
Fire and thorns book one.
('La fille de braises et de ronces' translates to 'The daughter or embers and brambles' - According to Google translate.)

Mist: I really don't like the UK cover at all, I mean the desert is nice but the rest I just don't like. The French cover is much prettier and intriguing, even if the model has forgotten to put her top on lol. I love the hand with the light on it, makes you want to know what that is all about.

Ninfa: Oh it's got to be a French win! The cover is very "Fantasy" inspired and I love the outfit, the jewelled dagger and the little light effects that suggests something special is happening. The UK cover is okay I guess, just not to my taste thought the desert shot behind the model's eyes is pretty cool. French win

Which do you prefer?

The girl of fire and thorns review

The girl of fire and thorns by Rae Carson

Releases 22nd September 2011 in the UK and
September 20th in the US

www.harpercollins.co.uk

What's it about?

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.
But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.
Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.
And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.
Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.
Most of the chosen do.

My review:
5/5
I must admit when I started this I confused for a bit by all the politics and religion of a foreign world, but once I got into it and got a sense of what was going on I was hooked!
This book is well written with an excellent plot that never dulls. I really enjoyed watching Elisa grow from a shy, unconfident girl who overeats for comfort to a strong, clever leader, and, to be frank, completely bad-ass!
She strikes up some great unlikely friendships that were enjoyable to read and I look forward to seeing them develop more in future books, there's one in particular I have my fingers crossed for lol
Carson has created a wonderful, diverse world and I found it easy to envision the different places Elisa travels to and the people she encounters along the way.
One of the things I loved about this book is that it wasn't predictable, the were some things I guessed would happen but there were also a bunch that I never which made for a really excitable read.
This is an excellent debut, I cannot wait to see what more Rae Carson has to offer.

Rae Carson's website/blog

What I'm reading?

I saw that Haley on YA-aholic does this when she starts a new book. I thought it was a good idea so I'm copying her lol.

The girl of fire and thorns by Rae Carson.



Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.
But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.
And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.
Most of the chosen do.

My thoughts.

Have to say I was really excited when I was approved for this one on NetGalley, I've really been looking forward to it but had a couple of review books to get through first. It sounds really interesting and different

What are you reading?