#Laurie Forest

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Demon Tide | Author: Laurie Forest | Publisher: Inkyard Press (2022)

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: The Black Witch Chronicles

Author: Laurie Forest

Series or standalone: series

Publication year: 2017

Genres: fiction, fantasy, romance

Blurb: Elloren Gardner is the granddaughter of the last prophesied Black Witch, Carnissa Gardner, who drove back the enemy forces and saved the Gardnerian people during the Realm War...but while she is the absolute spitting image of her famous grandmother, Elloren is utterly devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else. When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at the prestigious Verpax University to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy...but she soon realises that the university, which admits all manner of people - including the fire-wielding, winged Icarals, the sworn enemies of all Gardnerians - is a treacherous place for the granddaughter of the Black Witch. As evil looms on the horizon and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, everything Elloren thought she knew will be challenged and torn away. Her best hope of survival may be among the most unlikely band of rebels...if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to fear.

[selenekallanwriter]

This is my favorite scene in The Black Witch by Laurie Forest.

[petiteblasee]

DESAFIO LITERÁRIO • 2023 | LEITURAS DE JUNHO - JULHO

★ 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐇𝐎

Um livro publicado no ano do seu nascimento

Do amor e Outro Demônios - Gabriel Garcia Márquez

Essa foi uma leitura que eu terminei agradecendo aos céus por ter acabado.

Apesar de entender a parte da inquisição e a crítica à tudo que a igreja católica via como "do satanás" (principalmente se tratando da religião e cultura africana) não consegui me apegar à santidade da sierva maría e as loucuras da parte do convento, ainda mais envolvendo o clérigo escolhido para realizar o exorcismo. Foi cansativa e decepcionante.

Um livro que combine com o inverno

Rainha do Escândalo - Sarah MacLean

Não sei se foi minha expectativa altíssima ou se a leitura realmente foi fraca, mas não curti tanto. A história da sesily foi muito esperada pelos fãs, e a inserção do caleb deixou tudo mais interessante, o que me fez acreditar que terminaria a leitura extasiada, mas achei tudo chato. O caleb perdeu todo o lado interessante, mesmo guardando um grande segredo, porque vivia se repetindo; era uma hora seguindo a sesily e outra falando que não podia ficar com ela. Se decida, caramba!

Quanto à sesily, apesar de se manter um furacão, essa tristeza dela por amar sem ser correspondida, por mais compreensível que seja, pareceu não combinar com ela.Era humilhação demais. Gostei mais da parte que mostrava o trabalho dela e adorei que mostraram a escolha dela em não ser mãe de forma alguma, apesar de amar crianças e ser uma pessoa muito amorosa, porque não é algo algo que não se vê muito nas histórias do gênero. O contexto até me atiçou, e uns pequenos indícios de romance entre as amigas dela me pareceram mais interessantes, mas a história de amor da última irmã escandalosa solteira poderia ter sido melhor.

★ 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐇𝐎

Um livro que todo mundo está lendo

Deuses de Neon - Katee Robert

Por ser uma releitura de seres mitológicos icônicos, esperei que as atitudes estivessem à altura, mas apenas o contexto carregou. O Hades é um protagonista qualquer de um new adult que performa a maldade mas decepciona. Por conta da situação em que ele se encontrava, não esperava receber um cara que se culpa por fazer o que é necessário para manter o seu poder, mesmo que ele seja alguém que faz isso por ser bem coração e entender que tem pessoas que dependem dele.

A Perséfone é até ok nesse ponto, ainda mais com ela correndo atrás de fugir da vida que não gostava e escolhendo permanecer com o Hades, mas a ingenuidade dela é irritante. No fim, era só uma mimada que enxergava o mundo do jeito que queria para o drama ser a favor dela.

O romance é bom, só que muito mais do mesmo de outras obras, então não fiquei encantada com o fato de ser uma releitura. Se tivesse elementos mais fantásticos além da barreira, eu aproveitaria mais. Apesar disso, estou curiosa para saber dos outros deuses e, talvez, continue a saga.

Um livro de ficção científica ou fantasia

A Bruxa Negra - Laurie Forest.

Algumas leituras não valem a pena insistir até a metade, mas essa valeu. Com uma linhagem respeitável, mas criação limitada, elloren passa a viver num mundo diverso onde o conservadorismo do seu povo é praticado e dá espaço à descrença por enxergar as divergências e absurdos.

Foi só com a convivência com os diferentes, mesmo em meio a hostilidade justificável, que elloren passou a questionar tudo, e ainda bem que a autora mudou na parte 3 e colocou em evidência os coadjuvantes interessantes (todos ótimos) que fizeram parte da transformação dela.

Com esse acréscimo, foi muito bom ver a protagonista indo atrás da história de cada um sem que pedissem, como é o certo. Para os crescidos em ambientes de verdades absolutas, a história é super identificável. Recomendo para quem curte o gênero YA + fantasia.

[hellisntreal]

Black Witch Chronicles continues to have 8 million characters and I continue to draw All Of Them. As the sole fan of this bestselling book series... someone's gotta do it!

For real, I just love designing fantasy characters. Here's my cast for Demon Tide! (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Diana, Jarod, and Bleddyn (I love the twins so much) (Bleddyn queen)

Fyon, Mora'lee, Ra'ven (Snake people... I love u)

Oilily, Effrey, Nym’ellia (War torn kids...)

Heelyn and Or’myr (Did you know the latter is canon faceclaim Cumberbatch...?)

Trystan (that makeover is very 2010s emo), Riv'yrel (is he, y'know...?) and Wrenfir (my goth uncle or guncle)

Thierran and Sparrow (I love this Sparrow look)

Tierney, Valasca, Ariel (unbury your gay, turn into a dragon)

Viger Maul and Vothe (much needed updated art)

Lukas, Elloren, Yvan (Elloren has TWO hands guys)

[janchei-reads]

(Going with the german Cover because that's the Version I'm reading)

Summary:

"Elloren Gardner is the spitting image of her grandmother, who drove back the enemy forces in the last Realm War. But while her people believe she will follow in her grandmother's footsteps and become the next Black Witch of prophecy, Elloren is devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else.

When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at Verpax University. But she soon realizes that the university may be the most treacherous place of all for the granddaughter of the Black Witch.

As evil looms and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, Elloren's best hope of survival may be among a secret band of rebels…if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to fear."

I bought this book on October 19th, 2024 when I was out with a friend. They had the 2nd book there as well but since the first was kinda expensive already (and my work decided to not pay me, somehow) I only got the first.

I am not entirely sure what to make of this book. The world and the characters feel incredibly fleshed out, but the writing style is not for me, but this might be due to the fact that it's translated. I am too poor to get the english version as well as the german one, so I chose to believe that only the german translatipn sucks ass.

I like Elloren as a Lead, but she is sometimes annoying. Which is fine, she is seventeen and was all of a sudden thrown into politics and wars. Her uncle is an idiot, though, but that might just be me and my burning hatred for the trope 'Let's not tell the child that their life is in danger/let's not teach that child how to fight even though their life will depend on it'. It's such an idiotic decision for an adult to make, especially in this situation. As the granddaughter of the "Black Witch" and powerful magic user herself Elloren has a target on her back. And thanks to her uncle she can't do anything to help herself.

I really, really hate this trope.

Elloren has a nice arc - she goes from country bumpkin to racist to starting to hate her heritage and trying to make amends.

For a YA Fantasy the book is long (the german version is just short of 600 pages) but I like long books! I read the whole thing more or less in one sitting on October 21st.

[muatyland]

The Iron Flower. Il fiore di ferro. The Black Witch Chronicles vol. 2 | Laurie Forest 

Elloren Gardner e i suoi amici stavano solo cercando di riparare qualche torto quando hanno salvato una Selkie e liberato un drago militare. Non si sarebbero mai sognati di venire coinvolti in una resistenza clandestina contro l’avanzata gardneriana. Mentre la Resistenza si oppone alle dure decisioni del Concilio dei Maghi, i soldati gardneriani piombano sull’Università… guidati nientemeno che da…

[floriumm]

My current read! The Black Witch by Laurie Forest .

It has held my attention all the way through and I can’t wait to read the next one which is currently sitting in my mailbox (I need to go grab it).

It’s been sad seeing how mean everyone is towards each other in this book but interesting to watch the characters grow and learn. I’m curious to see if the romance part grows because in Wandfasting, the first prequel, it was the main focus. We’ll see I guess!

I will say I hope we see more of the magic system in the next book.

[wedontburnbookshere]

☆☆☆1/2

For some reason, I thought this series was just a trilogy? Then, partway through book three, The Shadow Wand, I saw that there was no way that this was all getting wrapped up in one book, even if it was over 600 pages, so I looked it up, and book five comes out next year. I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I'll continue. I'll read the synopsis of book 4, and if it piques my interest enough, maybe I'll pick it up.

Anyway.

I feel like I harp on tense a lot (at least to friends), but I don't think these books should have been written in 1st person, present tense, especially since in book three, there are multiple POVs, switching to 3rd person, present tense for the other characters. There are a few switches in POV in the first two books, but those are more snippets, before we are taken back to Elloren's narration.

Before I read the third book, I thought that something that would have helped would be if it had been written in past tense instead, where Elloren is recalling her time at school from some point in the future. We as the readers know that Elloren is the prophesized Black Witch, long before she's even aware she has magic. A big part of her arc in book one is her beginning to unlearn her prejudice towards the other fantasy races. A big part of this involves her borrowing history books from one of her professors. Elloren complains about history being confusing, as depending on who's writing about what happened, accounts don't quite line up or even directly contradict each other.

It would have been nice, having an element of Elloren being an unreliable narrator, recalling this time in her life during a time where we as readers can assume she can sit down and recount it all/write it down. Just an element where I as the reader couldn't help but wonder what side of history she's writing from and with what motive(s).

When The Shadow Wand switched POVs, I felt that maybe the books should have been in 3rd person from the beginning, with Elloren still getting the most page-time in book one, then splitting it a bit more in The Iron Flower. Part of why I think this is that in book three, one of Elloren's love interests (Lukas) has a change in personality that feels... sudden, I guess.

There are things we see about him in book one that doesn't make this change feel out of nowhere, but when we see Lukas in the first two books, he kills and hangs up the pet of Ariel, one of Elloren's roommates, seemingly without guilt. (Seemingly, since this is from Elloren's POV.) When Elloren feels guilty, Lukas tells her that if she wants to survive, she needs to show herself as powerful. Later, when Elloren is realizing everything she'd been led to believe about her people and history is wrong, she brings up the series' main antagonist to Lukas, who says he thinks Vogel is wrong. However, he says fighting against him would be choosing the losing side.

Keeping power and the security power brings is one of the only motivations we see from Lukas, and at first, this motivation is even what leads him to wanting to be with Elloren. He knows she's powerful before she does, and he wants her power to be allied with his own.

In book three, his motivations have changed to wanting Elloren safe. Since he wasn't in book two much, him going from wolf to puppy feels sudden, though if I decide to read book four, I think there had been enough hints where Forest could add scenes in Lukas's POV to show where his feelings towards Elloren had shifted.

Elloren's relationship with Yvan unfolds more naturally, since we get to see more of Yvan and how he changes around her as Elloren learns more about the world and begins changing for the better. I enjoyed him starting out as an antagonist, even if it was pretty obvious going by YA book conventions that he'd eventually be a love interest.

Yvan is a Kelt, which Gardnerians like Elloren and Lukas look down on and oppress. He is understandably not happy to have to be around Elloren when she receives orders to work in the kitchen to help pay for her scholarship, but the narrative treats his suspicion and anger as being fair considering the world's politics on top of what we learn of his backstory later into book two.

A major theme in the books is relations between the fantasy races, primarily how the Gardnerians consider themselves superior. Vogel, the main antagonist, is running to head the Gardnerian council and wants to crush the other nations under Gardnerian rule. In favor of him are Elloren's aunt and a growing number of Gardnerians.

Forest is about as subtle as a sledgehammer when it comes to this theme of politics and race relations. There is one point where Elloren is reading a newspaper with a classmate, who is disguised fae, a race being actively hunted and killed by the Gardnerians. Elloren mentions she'd never bothered to keep up with politics before, to which her classmate retorts that it's because it hadn't affected her before.

I don't see this as a point against the books, and the school setting was used really well in delivering exposition for the world-building. Elloren might be from this world, but she had been spoon-fed propaganda wrapped up as history since she was a baby, so as Elloren learns more about what's really happened and what's going on now, a lot of the information dumps honestly feel pretty organic.

I'm not sure if the sudden switches in POV in book 3 just threw me off, but it took much longer for me to get through it compared to books one and two, which only took me a few days to read each. With book two especially, I got excited to get back to it whenever I had to put it down, which made me excited for book three, since it's common for the second book in a series to be harder to get through compared to the first and third, especially in a trilogy (which again, I for some reason thought this series was a trilogy). I had also started reading book three at the start of a depressive episode, so my inability to get into it may have more to do with my mood than the actual book.

Like many magic systems, the one in this book gets more holes in it the longer you squint your eyes, but it works well enough that I can mostly just accept it as I kept reading. Runes are a bit of a sonic screwdriver kind of magic, able to do just about whatever is needed. I don't mind that too much, since there have already been some established rules for runes, so it still feels like there are stakes, especially after seeing some of the magic Vogel has acquired.

When it comes to Vogel, I'm on the fence about how I feel about him as a BBEG. He is definitely big, bad, and evil, almost cartoonishly so by the time we see more of his power in book three. However, irl, there have been some cartoonishly evil people, so....

I'm less on the fence with Fallon. I don't like her. She feels like a Regina George-type clone but with god-like powers, mainly with ice magic. Because Ice Queen, I guess. *badum tss*

She honestly doesn't provide much, which I feel is a shame, because considering everyone thinks Fallon is supposed to be the next Black Witch, she could have been the perfect foil to Elloren, and there were points that made it seem like that that was supposed to be her role.

If I decide to continue reading the series, I'll probably add on to my thoughts, like if I'm right and Forest does more to show Lukas's change in heart towards Elloren.

[cinemablogs]

Street Kings

Director: David Ayer | USA, 2008 Starring: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, & Hugh Laurie

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Shadow Wand | Author: Laurie Forest | Publisher: Inkyard Press (2020)

[nevertoparadise]

the ultimate girl blogger guide

disclaimer: these are my own personal preferences. this “guide” is supposed to be a fun little board where I recollect all my favourite little things and connect them all together. this could be used for inspiration to anyone who wishes to understand the life of a rotting girl blogger with daddy issues who’s addicted to cinema and music (aka me). this is actually just an excuse to introduce myself.

୨୧ movies: the virgin suicides, girl interrupted, buffalo 66, marie antoinette, palo alto, priscilla, malena, kids (1995), waves, gone girl, pearl, the love witch, black swan, prozac nation, white oleander, sharing the secret, valley of the dolls, christiane f, helter skelter, vivre sa vie, a woman is a woman, to the bone, sixteen candles, lolita, melancholia, billy elliot, speak

୨୧ music artists: lana del rey (lizzy grant), amy winehouse, radiohead, air, jeff buckley, mazzy star, fleetwood mac, slowdive, cocteau twins, sade, hole, the cure, pink floyd, led zeppelin, sex pistols, nirvana, massive attack, lalleshwari, black box recorder, autumn’s grey solace, oasis, beach house, nicole dollanganger, heart, boris, you’ll never get to heaven

୨୧ albums: ultraviolence, blue banisters, did you know that there’s a tunnel under ocean blvd (lana del rey), in rainbows, amnesiac (radiohead), grace (jeff buckley), moon safari (air), bare trees, kiln house (fleetwood mac), after hours (sarah vaughan), so tonight that I might see, among my swan (mazzy star), within the depths of a darkened forest (autumn’s grey solace), live through this, celebrity skin (hole), mezzanine (massive attack), surrealistic pillow (jefferson airplane), tell mama (etta james), seventeen seconds (the cure), the wall, wish you were here (pink floyd), mothership (led zeppelin), how does that grab you? (nancy sinatra), planet waves (bob dylan), blonde (frank ocean)

୨୧ books: the bell jar (sylvia plath), the perks of being a wallflower (stephen chbosky), lolita (vladimir nabokov), white nights (fyodor dostoevsky), the virgin suicides (jeffrey eugenides), girl interrupted (susanna kaysen), speak (laurie halse anderson), metamorphosis (franz kafka), of human freedom (epictetus), elvis and me (priscilla beaulieu), a room of one’s own (virginia woolf), madame bovary (charles flaubert), devotions (mary oliver), east of eden (john steinbeck), the stranger (albert camus), i malavoglia (giovanni verga), i who have never known men (jacqueline harpman)

୨୧ girl blogger icons: lana del rey (lizzy grant!!), sofia coppola, kirsten dunst, lily rose-depp, alana champion, nina sayers, effy stonem, amy dunne, lux lisbon, layla (buffalo 66), karissa love, nicole dollanganger, snejana onopka, vlada roslyakova, alida simone

thank you for reading, xoxo

[anthonyspage]

🌿🌺🐦🐯

[petiteblasee]

Ainda bem que não desisti antes de chegar na metade | A Bruxa Negra - Laurie Forest.

SINOPSE: Elloren Gardner é a cara de sua avó, a mais poderosa bruxa que já existiu e que repeliu as forças inimigas na última Guerra do Reino. Com essa aparência, não há ninguém no Reino que acredite que ela não seguirá os passos de sua avó e se tornará a próxima Bruxa Negra, predita na profecia. Porém, não havia como imaginar que a neta de Clarissa Gardner seria desprovida de poderes mágicos em uma sociedade que valoriza a habilidade mágica acima de tudo. Assim, quando ela tem a oportunidade de perseguir seu sonho de se tornar uma farmacêutica, Elloren se junta a seus irmãos na Universidade de Verpax, mas logo perceberá que a universidade pode ser o lugar mais traiçoeiro de todos para a neta da Bruxa Negra. À medida que o Mal se aproxima e a pressão para viver de acordo com sua herança aumenta, a esperança de sobrevivência para ela pode estar em se juntar a um grupo secreto de rebeldes...

A Bruxa Negra é o primeiro livro da série Crônicas da Bruxa Negra, primeiro livro da autora que leio e também a primeira leitura da maratona, então fui empolgada, mas pensando que poderia me decepcionar com o desconhecido, e isso quase aconteceu. O livro é dividido em três partes, com a primeira apresentando a vida da elloren, uma jovem descendente de magos poderosos que cresce fora dos parâmetros esperados para alguém com uma linhagem grandiosa e parece não ter o glamour, muito menos a magia, esperada pelo seu povo. Ainda assim, a imagem da família importa e é dessa forma que ela se vê em busca do sonho de poder se tornar alguém, mas sem saber da verdadeira razão por trás de quem pretende ajudá-la com isso. Após chegar na cidade universitária, com a proteção de sua tia poderosa, seguimos com a parte dois da história. Nela, a elloren descobre que parte do plano de sua tia envolve um relacionamento eterno com um jovem promissor, e foi nesse ponto que comecei a ficar com tédio porque tudo parecia acontecer no ensino médio, com direito a elloren conquistando o ódio da fallon, a vilã poderosa, por despertar o interesse do jovem mais valioso, interesse da fallon. Enquanto ficou nesse enrendo, eu quis muito desistir, até porque o romance não me convenceu em momento algum. Pra melhorar o clima teen, elloren passa a sofrer bullying de diversos colegas que tiveram seus povos subjugados pela avó, e o que era pra ser uma troca interessante dela aprendendo a se impor ou conhecendo o diferente, acabou fazendo ela apenas ter atitudes bobas e covardes. Porém, graças a deus, a autora soube colocar em evidência coadjuvantes super atrativos que deram uma temperada na leitura. Na terceira parte, elloren, que está rodeada de seres vistos como demoníacos, os kélticos e icarais, começa a questionar tudo que aprendeu ao longo dos anos porque a convivência mostra algo diferente de tudo que ouviu, e ela dá espaço para esses seres mostrarem como realmente são (e aqui o irmão mais velho dela é perfeito em fazer essa ponte). Junto com aislinn, uma jovem de seu povo que mostra como o conservadorismo pode ser destrutivo, ela se abre para as possibilidades, formando um grupo incrível, composto por seus irmãos, ambos destaques do seu povo mas que não pretendem jogar uma criação decente fora; jarod e diana, dois gêmeos príncipes lupinos; ariel, uma icaral quebrada pelo preconceito; wynter, uma icaral extremamente gentil e artística, que sabe ler as pessoas; e yvan, um kéltico que possui vários segredos, menos o ódio que sente por ela. Essa abrangência é tão bem feita que até a profecia ganha novos contornos, já que ela entende que a ascensão da fallon, sua inimiga que parece ser a próxima bruxa super poderosa, pode significar dizimação de tudo que é diferente, e isso pode acabar com o pequeno e precioso mundo criado pela elloren e seus amigos. Para quem pretende trilhar o próprio caminho, ela toma a melhor atitude, que é ir atrás da história de cada um para entender melhor os conflitos e solucioná-los, e essa parte é super identificável para quem cresceu em ambientes com verdades absolutas (cof cof religião cof). Numa história gigante dessa, não poderia faltar o romance, e gostei pra caramba de como a autora inseriu esse ponto na vida da elloren. Há o clichê do gênero, mas não ficou forçada a proximidade e o estranhamento entre ela e o mocinho não surgiu apenas por birra, sendo muito bem justificado, tal como a aproximação deles, unindo também diversos coadjuvantes citados acima. O livro acaba bem no meio de algo grandioso, mas fica bastante claro que a elloren e os novos amigos farão de tudo para que sejam uma grande resistência para a quebra do mundo que tanto desejam e eu desejo ver isso acontecendo. A série possui mais 5 livros (haja tempo!) e pretendo dar continuidade, então vou ter que começar a treinar meu inglês básico pra poder ler antes do lançamento de todos em português. Minha nota final foi 3/5 mas recomendo porque ela entregou entretenimento no meio da história e pretende entregar mais nos próximos livros que virão.

[just-some-common-bitch]

the funniest thing about Hilson is the fact that Hugh started it pretty much. that one interview when he calls Wilson House’s best friend and some shit about if a tree falls in the forest and Wilson wasn’t around to hear it, did it really make a sound. any time someone’s like “is House going to fuck Wilson” he’s just like “I dunno but he should”. Hugh Laurie ran so we could walk. everyone say thank you Mr Laurie