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Tag Archives: celtic

Blog Tour Review: Eclipse (The Priestess Trilogy, #3) by @MelissaSasina

26 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by Elisabeth in blog tour, review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

adult, blog tour, celtic, mythology, priestess trilogy

Priestess Trilogy Tour

P3 Eclipse 750Tensions escalate between two clans, threatening their fragile peace. On one side stand the Túath, on the other the Milidh. The prize: control of the land of Éire. Yet amidst this brewing conflict, another more dangerous threat looms. The village of Tara is ripped apart, not by war, but by the seed of betrayal as the priestess’ own kinswoman, Gráinne, conspires to seize control. Enemies shall become allies and Shiovra is faced with a difficult choice, one that will ultimately engulf her world in an irreversible eclipse.

Find Eclipse on Goodreads

Find Eclipse on Amazon

Find Eclipse on BN.com

4 out of 5 stars

This is the last book. The conclusion. The END. It’s hard to believe that this series is finally complete, but one could certainly do worse by way of endings.

I’ve been following this series since I downloaded the first, Defiance, during a free promo over a year ago. One of my favorite things about this book has been the world building and the historical tidbits Sasina tosses in with her mythological references and there was definitely more of that!

The plot:

I admit I was a little intimidated at that word count, but the scenes are broken up into bite sized pieces and this reads very quickly. Like its predecessors, this book has a plot that moves along at a grueling pace and you’d better be ready to keep up!

Something important happens in nearly every scene, so there’s very little “drag.” This is the kind of writing style I like best—the kind that makes you lose track of time.

The characters:

There’s a great deal of what I call “head hopping” in this book, which is to say we get inside the heads of quite a few characters. On one hand, I think I would have preferred a greater degree of exclusivity in order to give us more insight into the main cast. On the other hand, we did have a glimpse into everyone—villains, heroes, and everything in between.

There is one point I wish I could ignore, but it influenced my opinion of the book too much not to mention. There’s this thing where the leader of one of the villages tells his wife to sleep with this other guy in order to secure said other guy as an ally. The result is this love triangle with a mutual understanding and consent between three partners.

The thing that bothers me about that is…well, I didn’t feel there was enough explanation. I get that the husband was okay with the whole arrangement, but why?

Was it supposed to be a cultural thing like in ancient Sparta (where wives could take any lover they wanted so long as their husband approved)? In the second book, it was kind of implied that women were supposed to remain chaste before matrimony, is that only before? Was it a personal thing where the one character just really wanted Other Guy as an ally? I just feel like there wasn’t enough set up for the modern western way of thinking and I would have liked a little more of that.

Otherwise, I truly did enjoy this book. This author excels at world building and making the setting feel authentic. She truly brings myths to life and I would definitely recommend this series to anyone interested in a different kind of fantasy novel.

Defiance
The Priestess Trilogy # 1
By – Melissa Sasina
Genre –  Fantasy/Romance
 
Shiovra has been named High Priestess of the village Tara, but she quickly finds herself hunted by the Milidh, a clan born of war and vengeance. With the safety of Tara at stake, it is decided that she is to seek aid from her betrothed, one she considers the enemy. At her side is Odhrán, a Milidh warrior sworn to protect her and determined to gain her trust. But their journey is fraught with peril and Shiovra learns that darkness lurks in the hearts of her own kin. Steeped in ancient Irish myth, this tale is spun of love, war, and DEFIANCE.
 
 

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Review: Defiance (The Priestess Trilogy, #1) by Melissa Sasina

09 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by Elisabeth in review

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

adult, celtic, defiance, indie author, melissa sasina, mythology, the priestess trilogy

16003685

Shiovra has been named High Priestess of the village Tara, but she quickly finds herself hunted by the Milidh, a clan born of war and vengeance. With the safety of Tara at stake, it is decided that she is to seek aid from her betrothed, one she considers the enemy.

At her side is Odhrán, a Milidh warrior sworn to protect her and determined to gain her trust. But their journey is fraught with peril and Shiovra learns that darkness lurks in the hearts of her own kin.

Steeped in ancient Irish myth, this tale is spun of love, war, and DEFIANCE.

Blurb and cover from Goodreads

4 out of 5 stars

How can you look at that cover and not want this book? (Yes, I succumb to cover lust, don’t judge me.) Reading this was an exciting, fresh take on Celtic mythology and little geeky me was psyched every time I recognized a name or a reference, but I still mean to brush up on my Irish lore.

The plot:

I downloaded this when it was listed free for a month awhile back and there is a note in the back saying it is being reedited. For the most part, I think that there were a lot of places where transitions or sequences could have been handled more gracefully, but over all I enjoyed it. I finished this in a fairly short time and got my emotions tangled up over how it would end, so it must be good. There was a total of four sex scenes in here and I skipped over them for the most part. They weren’t that explicit, but I’m me and that’s that.

The characters:

Shiovra was a consistent character that was sympathetic and inspired concern. For the most part, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that she was being used without knowing and it made me worry. She was strong without being overbearing, makes people take responsibility for their own actions, and has a dedication to duty that I haven’t been seeing much in characters lately. There is this one part a little after the 80% mark on my Kindle where Shiovra becomes lovers with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named-For-Fear-Of-Spoilers that I didn’t really like. The fact that she had just finished tongue-lashing another person for doing the same thing and was betrothed to someone else aside, it felt to me like he pressured her into it. I also wish that the build up to that scene had been a little more…intense.

There is this one warrior leader, Meara, who I wish we had seen more of. She’s a woman in ancient Ireland leading men into battle with a spear—tell me that’s not worth exploring? I would have liked a touch of backstory on her and a little explanation as to why she fights alongside the men and why her men follow her when that is clearly not a cultural norm. I hope there will be more of that in Betrayal.

Odhrán was…complicated. I don’t know how to feel about his character. I loved his sarcastic comebacks to Daire and he was definitely intriguing, but I’m not sure whose side he’s on or what his ends are. I have this theory bouncing around in my head that would explain a whole lot, but I’m only 40% vested in its likelihood.

I did like most of the characters, including the villains. No, especially the villains. Every story needs a good one (or two or three or four) and here we get the “dark lord” baddie as well as the “evil queens”—the ultimate package.

This story has a lot of potential, but I would recommend waiting until the reedits are done. With a little polishing, it could be a spectacular piece.

Find Defiance on Goodreads

Find Defiance on Amazon

Find Defiance on BN.com

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