Tag: The Parliament House

Book Reviews, Products I love!!

Gilded Ruins by Chantal Gadoury Book Review

Megan Nicole

Gilded Ruins (Blinding Night 2) by Chantal Gadoury Book Review

  • Gilded Ruins (Blinding Night Book 2) by [Gadoury, Chantal]Overall: **
  • Romance: ***
  • Reading Rate: ***** Short and fast paced, finished in a single day
  • Publication Date: May 12th 2020
  • Publisher: The Parliament House Press
  • Purchase on Amazon here

Gilded Ruins is the second book in the Blinding Night duology which is a Hades and Persephone retelling. This book will contain spoilers for Blinding Night so check out my prior review of Book 1.

We pick up right where we left off at the end of book one with Darce and Summer heading to face Zues and Demeter to try and obtain her freedom to return to the underworld.

What I liked:

  • Very interesting take on the Greek Mythology

What I struggled with:

  • It seemed like the same scene repeated several times with slight variations.
  • The FMC was a challenge to deal with in this story as she was very insecure and whiny, she would start each interaction saying she was going to be string and then quickly crumble.
  • The author started a bit of a love triangle in this book but then never really took it anywhere
  • It almost seemed like she started to build out the plot and decided to just end the story instead of tying everything together.

Overall both books were worth the read. I feel this duology would actually have been better as a single stand alone book, taking out some of the repeated instances and wrapping up the ending.

Synopsis:

The Story Continues. . .

Summer and Darce are summoned by the order of Zeus himself to travel to the home of the Gods: Mount Olympus, where they’re to face even more ancient Gods and Goddesses.

Summer braces to confront her mother again, illuminating secrets about the truth of her tragic pasts, while also persuading Zeus to allow her to stay with the God of the Underworld, her true love – Darce.

Aboard Poseidon’s luxury yacht, Summer meets her mythological family, while also uncovering what exactly happened to her past lives – and the true roles her mother and Darce played.

When Darce and Summer suddenly find themselves separated, Summer must find her inner power and unite them together, before her mortal time runs out.

Thank you to Chantal Gaudry for a free copy of Gilded Ruins in exchange for my honest opinion

Book Reviews, Products I love!!

Blinding Night by Chantal Gadoury Book Review

Megan Nicole

Blinding Night (Blinding Night #1) by Chantal Gadoury Book ReviewBlinding Night (Blinding Night #1) by Chantal Gadoury

  • Overall: ***
  • Romance: ***
  • Reading Rate: *****
  • Pages: 330 for the paperback, however I read on Kindle
  • Release Date: October 2, 2018
  • Publisher: The Parliament House Press
  • Purchase on Amazon here
  • Recommend if you liked: ACOTAR, Shade of Vampire

This is a really cute Hades and Persephone retelling and the first book in a duology. The main character is a 20 year old art student from Rhode Island whose entire life changes when Hades swoops in the retrieve her from the hospital after her parents are killed in a car accident while traveling to Greece.

While this story does have a lot of ACOTAR similarities it is heavily tied to the romance story line between Persephone and Hades with the events of the broader world being more a sub plot. But she is an artist, rough relations with her family, the inner circle, etc.

What I liked:

  • This was a cute fast paced read, I love a good quick romance story.
  • The romance line was carried throughout with a little steam here and there, nothing that would not fall within what you commonly see in other YA books today.
  • I enjoyed the mythology aspect and the takes on traditional stories of the Gods.

What I struggled with:

  • While the MC is 20 years old but she acted much younger in my opinion. She was very resentful towards her parents and thought their affections were “icky” basically. She did seem sheltered and spoiled with an overprotective mom so this may be really where they were trying to get at but I had a hard time with it. I think she also took the death of her parents and change in her world a bit too well, but maybe just not time in the story to capture that recovery timeline.
  • The story never made it clear why Persephone had no choice of her own in staying with Hades vs returning to her mother. We also never received any insight into the mother’s side of the story. Hoping this gets cleared up in the second book in the duology.
  • There were also a handful or spelling/grammar errors as well as a few small contradictions in the story, nothing to the larger plot line.

Synopsis:

What if you were the missing piece in one of the world’s most epic legends?

Despite being an art history student, Summer isn’t thrilled to be stuck with her archeologist family all summer in Greece. While the rest of her college friends are posting a million selfies by the pool together, Summer is stuck alone, trying to entertain herself alone in a place where she doesn’t even speak the language.

Upon her arrival to Greece, strange dreams and even stranger shadows seem to haunt Summer, leaving her to ponder the meaning of pomegranate seeds and twisted, darkened faces.

Suddenly, her stay abroad leads to tragic twists, leaving Summer in the arms of a dark stranger, who claims to be the god, Hades, whom she feels like she knows from another life. In a whirlwind through the busy streets of Athens, Summer is seduced to the lowest point of Greece where Hades’ lair awaits…the Underworld. Determined to find out who she is and where she belongs in an age-old myth, Summer joins Hades to discover that the secrets about her past life are beyond anything she could have ever imagined.

Thank you to Chantal Gadoury and the Parliament House Press for a copy of Blinding Night in exchange for my honest review.

 

 

 

Book Reviews, Products I love!!

The Shrike & The Shadows Sneak Peak

Megan Nicole

What’s up, Witches! In honor of Mabon and the first official day of Autumn we are celebrating with a Sneak Peak at the new dark Hansel and Gretel Retelling by A.M. Wright and Chantal Gadoury!

The Shrike and the Shadows

The Shrike & The Shadows is the first book in The Witches of Krume series and is being released in March 2020 by The Parliament House Press. I am so excited to read this book, it has all those creepy fall vibes I have been hunting for!

Click the here for exclusive access to read the first chapter of the book!

Synopsis:

Men have gone missing before.

The village of Krume is plagued by a haunted wood and a hungry witch. It’s been that way for as long as Hans and Greta can remember, though they have never seen the witch themselves; no one has. 

When men start to disappear once again in the cover of night – their bloody hearts turning up on doorsteps – the village falls into frenzied madness.

Hans and Greta, two outcast orphans, find themselves facing accusations of witchcraft and are met with an ultimatum: burn at the stake, or leave the village forever. 

With nowhere else to go, they abandon their only home. 

As they venture into the strange forest, their path is fraught with horrific creatures, wild and vivid hallucinations, and a mysterious man tied to the witch’s past.

The Shrike is watching, just beyond the deep darkness of the woods. 

Don’t forget to add to your Goodreads TBR 📚