Ultima vrajitoare din Transilvania – Mathias- Anna Vary

octombrie 30, 2013Roxana Recenzii 3 comentarii

Mathias reprezinta volumul 2 din trilogia Ultima vrajitoare din Transilvania, scrisa de Anna Vary. Aceasta mi-a fost oferita pentru recenzie de catre editura Herg Benet, carora doresc sa le multumesc foarte mult.

Datorita finalului neasteptat si brusc al primului volum, abia asteptam sa aflu continuarea aventurii Alexandrei in satul V. Volumul II are o actiune mai intensa si in acelasi timp, mai neobisnuita. Trei sferturi din evenimente se petrec in Bucurestiul agitat, si doar o mica parte se petrece pe taramul mistic al satului V. Mi-a placut mai mult atmosfera primului volum, cu toate misterele si legendele ce planau asupra satului, cu locuitorii sai izolati, bizari si enigmatici, dar nici cadrul creat aici, nu se lasa mai prejos.

In acest volum, Alexandra incearca sa isi restabileasca o ordine fireasca in viata sa de adolescenta, sa uite de toate intamplarile ciudate petrecute in acea vacanta de vara. Insa, toata aceasta straduinta, este naruita in momentul in care mama sa isi prezinta la cina noul iubit. Incepand din acest moment, actiunea o ia razna, iar evenimentele se succed cu o viteza ametitoare.

La capitolul personaje, cel care se afla in centrul atentiei este Mathias. Astfel, aflam si partea lui de poveste, si ajungem sa ii intelegem dragostea ce i-o poarta Contesei Aneke, dar si suferintele prin care trece. Cred ca Mathias este personajul tragic al acestei povesti, el fiind cel care are cel mai mult de indurat de pe urma „toanelor” lui Aneke, dar si a celorlalte personaje.

Un punct slab l-a constinuit personajul Alexandrei, sau mai exact, evolutia acesteia. In timp ce, personalitatea celorlalti s-a amplificat, iar ei, ca si persoane au progresat, Alexandra a stagnat, si s-a lasat dusa de val, avand un rol neinsemnat in derularea evenimentelor.

Un punct forte al acestui roman, il constituie faptul ca ne sunt dezvaluite o parte din acele taine care planau asupra lui Mathias, Aneke, Nori, Lorena. Finalul a fost unul pe masura, Aneke reusind sa isi puna in aplicare planul de razbunare, acesta insa, provocand efecte nefaste asupra tuturor persoanelor implicate.

Eu una, abia astept urmatorul volum al trilogiei – „ALEXANDRA”. Mai jos aveti si coperta:

**Multumesc Editurii Herg Benet pentru ocazia oferita de a citi si recenza aceasta carte!**

Date despre carte:

Titlul in romana: Ultima vrajitoare din Transilvania. Volumul II – Mathias
Titlul original: Ultima vrajitoare din Transilvania. Volumul II – Mathias
Editura: Herg Benet
An Aparitie: 2013
Nr. pagini: 288
Unde o puteti gasi: Libraria Herg Benet

Circul Noptii – Erin Morgenstern

august 12, 2013Roxana Recenzii 7 comentarii

„Circul soseste fara veste. Fara instiintari, fara afise lipite pe stalpi sau panouri. E pur si simplu acolo unde ieri nu era nimic.”

O carte ciudata, ciudata, ciudata….. Trebuie sa recunosc ca principalul factor care m-a indemnat sa ma apuc de ea a fost….coperta! Mi s-a parut foarte frumoasa si plina de mister. Si cred ca „misterioasa” este cuvantul care descrie cel mai bine aceasta carte.

Romanul are ca fundatie un joc. Un joc imoral pus la cale de doi mari magicieni. Un joc ce implica o legatura pe viata si pe moarte intre doi copii nevinovati. Ii avem astfel in mijlocul actiunii pe Marco si pe Celia. Celia apare pe nepregatite in viata marelui magician Prospero, iar acesta o va initia in tainele ascuse ale magiei si iluzionismului. Locul de desfasurare al acestui joc il va constitui CIRCUL. Le Cirque des Reves. Un circ „colorat” numai in alb si negru, un circ care se deschide la amiaza si se inchide dimineata.

Ah, cat mi-a placut aceasta scena. A fost magica in adevaratul sens al cuvantului. Autoarea a dat dovada de o imaginatie fructuoasa si a reusit sa elaboreze un cadru fermecator. Citind pagina cu pagina, ajungi sa pasesti pe acest taram vrajit, sa vizitezi fiecare cort in parte si sa te minunezi de continuturile lor, sa simti miros de vata de zahar si mere caramelizate. Cu ajutorul personajelor vei lua parte la aventurile lor, la gandurile si sentimenele ce le invadeaza.

Ii dau o steluta in plus acestui roman datorita personajelor secundare. Isobel, gemenii, Bailey, Prospero, Chandresh, Thiessen, si alti membrii ai circului, au jucat fiecare in parte, un rol decisiv in derularea evenimentelor. M-a incantat faptul ca Erin le-a creat si personajelor secundare cate o personalitatea proeminenta si le-a implicat destul de profund in actiune. Acest circ era mai mult decat o simpla colectivitate, mai mult decat simpli „colegi de munca”. Actiunile si deciziile unui personaj influentau indirect actiunile altui personaj. Totul era conectat, ca intr-o retea; intr-un final, aceasta „retea” dovendindu-se a fi mult mai fragila decat s-ar fi asteptat cineva.

Bineinteles ca nici din acesta carte nu puteau lipsi cliseele: o iubire imposibila si un sfarsit previzibil. Dar, cu toate acestea, nu sunt chiar asa de agasante. Pe tot parcursul romanului esti captivat de cadrul misterios si fermecator, putand astfel sa le treci cu vederea, fara ca ele sa devina deranjante.

Modalitatea de prezentare a evenimentelor poate fi derutanta. Sau cel putin, la inceput. Eu, am fost cat de cat indusa in eroare. Pana am inceput sa citesc si anii aferenti fiecarui capitol…doooh! Actiunea se intrepatrunde: sunt alternate evenimente din trecut si prezent, ajungand in final sa se intalneasca si sa te elibereze de tensiunea si suspansul acumulat pe parcursul romanului.

Sincer, mi-a placut destul de mult cartea. Un mare plus il constituie povestea relativ unica: autoare a stiut sa dozeze actiunea astfel incat sa te tina in suspans si mister de la inceput si pana la sfarsit. Pe toata intinderea romanului am avut intrebari la care nu gaseam raspuns. Si pentru mine acest element constituie un mare avantaj.

Ii voi da nota 4,5 /5 , si o recomand tuturor iubitorilor de fantasy si mister!

„Secretele au putere, incepe el. Iar acea putere scade daca sunt impartasite, asa incat e bine ca ele sa fie pastrate, chiar bine pastrate. Daca impartasesti secrete, secrete reale, cele importante, chiar si numai unei singure persoane, ele se vor modifica. Daca le scrii, e chiar mai rau, deoarece nimeni nu poate spune cati ochi le-ar putea vedea notate pe hartie, oricat de atent ai fi. Asa incat cel mai bine e sa tii secretele pentru tine atunci cand le ai, sper binele lor, dar si al tau. Asta e, in parte, motivul pentru care azi in lume exista mai putina magie. Magia e secret, iar secretele sunt magice.”

„Trecutul sta pe tine ca zaharul pudra pe degete. Unii oameni reusesc sa scape de el, dar tot mai ramane ceva, evenimentele si lucrurile care te-au impins acolo unde te afli acum.”

Date despre carte:

Titlul in romana: Circul Noptii
Titlul original: The Night Circus
Editura: Corint
An Aparitie: 2013
Nr. pagini: 416
Unde o puteti gasi: Libris

Maratonul Concursurilor de Primavara / I. Interviu + Random giveaway

aprilie 2, 2013Roxana Concursuri 33 comentarii

Dupa cum v-am spus in posturile precedente, m-am gandit sa organizez un mini maraton de concursuri!

Am ales ca primul concurs sa fie ceva usurel, si anume random. Vor urma concursuri de creatie si alte surprize.

Avem un interviu, realizat de catre Kristin Bailey si un premiu constituit din swag-uri, oferit de catre autoare (ea va va trimite pachetul).

1. Hello Kristin! Thank you for granting me this interview. I’d like to talk first about your book Legacy of the Clockwork Key. How did this story come into being?

Legacy of the Clockwork Key began when I saw a picture of a steampunk raven that someone had created. I was fascinated by it, and I wondered who would put the effort into creating it and why. I remember being in the car and seeing a large crow fly overhead and then I began to think about how amazing it would be if a mechanical bird could imitate a live one. At that point my secret society of inventors was born. I’ve always loved Victorian children’s literature, and I thought it would be fun to create a story that reflected the sweeping sense of whimsy and adventure of those classic books.

2. What was the most challenging aspect of creating this character of Meg?

Meg is an extremely challenging character to deal with as an author. I knew first and foremost, in order for her to be convincingly brave enough to face all the enormous physical and mental challenges I was about to throw at her, she’d have to be exceptionally bold and really intelligent. The problem was, I had placed her in a time where being a bold and intelligent female often landed one in an insane asylum. Consequently, Meg is very constrained by her social position as a young women who has a certain sense of herself, but no means to act on it at the moment. The rashness that she needs to break through her social constraints and seize the reins of adventure can give her a harsh edge to her personality.

I didn’t intend to use a Zodiac sign as a strict personality guide, but I had to choose a birthday for Meg to make some of the timeline work out. It turns out, she’s and Aries through and through. She tends to shoot first and aim later.

The benefit of this is that Meg starts out in book one as a fairly flawed character. She’s naive, she’s stubborn, she jumps to conclusions, and she can be pushy. That has given her a lot of room to learn and grow through the course of the three books, and I’ve had fun seeing her mature into a composed and powerful character by book three.

3. How did you approach the research needed for the book?

I tried to take the research one step at a time. First I did a lot of general reading on the Victorian era, and even broke out a lot of my favorite Charles Dickens novels to gain a sense of the contemporary language of the era, and also for setting details. I did a lot of reading on how households were run, and the rolls that servants had to play. Once I felt I had enough of the big picture in place, every time I needed a specific detail for the book, I looked that up individually to make sure it fit into my setting, and also that it was plausible. Looking up slang terms in particular was very interesting.

4. What are your current/future projects?

I am currently writing book three, and it is fun to finally bring all the big picture pieces of the story together. I’m not thinking too much ahead of that, but I’d like to write something with a boy as a protagonist sometime in the future.

5. If you had to be one of your protagonists, who would it be?

I can be really mean to my characters. I don’t think I’d want to be any of them. I put them in danger and injure them frequently. I think if I had to be anyone, I’d be Oliver, just because he lives a fairly charmed life, unless I’m causing him immediate physical pain.

6. Who are your favourite writers and why?

I love Jim C. Hines, his fantasies are fun and his characters are fantastic. I love Julia Quinn novels because she writes such fun romance, and I’m a huge fan of the Harry Potter books.

7. What was the book that most influenced your life — and why?

Honestly, it was probably Black Beauty by Anne Sewell. I think it started my life long obsession with horses, but I think reading a book as a young girl written from the perspective of an animal, then following along through much of the joy, heartbreak, and abuse that animal suffered, left a mark on my spirit that can never be erased. Through my life, I have never doubted that animals have thoughts and feelings and I continue to try to live my life in a way to help as many animals as I can.

8. What are your 5 favorite books —and why?

I love Frankenstein, because it is thought provoking. I love Harry Potter because it is so much fun. I love Lord of the Rings for the world building. I really adoreGoblin Quest by Jim C. Hines because it is hysterically funny and touching at the same time. And I love Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson because it is one of those books that everyone should read.

9. What is the greatest challenge you have faced in your career as an author?

I’ve had some fairly serious writing setbacks that at the time seemed „career ending.” Picking myself up and recovering from those took a lot of mental fortitude. I guess in that way, I’m a little like Meg. I can be really stubborn and I don’t like to give up.

10. Describe your writing room

I’m going to be moving soon, so it’s really a mess at the minute. I have a tiny desk in our greatroom. There’s a futon behind me, and some bookshelves, and the pool table down here. Mostly I’m staring at a messy desk and a blank wall in our cold basement. It’s not very glamorous. There are certain whimsical things in the room though, like this animation cell replica of the Pink Panther.

11. Take us through a typical day in the life of Kristin Bailey.

Most of the day is taken up just being a mom. I have to get the kids to school, feed everyone, clean the house, then if I get some time in the afternoon, I answer emails and try to do interviews and blog posts. Once everyone is asleep, that’s my time to write. I’m a night owl, and I hate mornings. Having the house dark and quiet is best for my concentration.

12. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I hope everyone enjoys Legacy of the Clockwork Key. I had a great time writing it and celebrating invention and engineering. More than anything, thank you for being readers and enjoying books. If you would like to know more about The Secret Order, you can visit my website at http://www.kristinbailey.com, follow me on Twitter @KBaileyBooks or stop by and „like” my Facebook page.

Happy reading everyone!

Kristin Bailey