Title: The Spirit Heir
(A Dance of Dragons #2)
Author: Kaitlyn
Davis
Description:
From bestselling
author Kaitlyn Davis comes the second book in the thrilling A Dance of Dragons
series--perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Graceling, and Game of Thrones!
Drenched in darkness and surrounded by the echo of screams,
Jinji waits deep in the dungeons of Rayfort, haunted by the memory of the knife
stabbing Rhen, plagued by a foreign voice whispering through her mind. A few
floors above, Rhen rests trapped in a coma, about to wake to a changed world—a
world where his best friend is a woman, his nephew is the king, and an enemy
army surrounds him on all sides.
But human wars are insignificant compared to the darkness
gathering unseen. Memories of lives she never lived flash through Jinji's
thoughts, hinting at a past that cannot be repeated. A mysterious phantom
visits Rhen, carrying cryptic messages of the future. And somewhere out there,
the shadow continues to lurk in silence.
Uncertain of their relationship and tempted by new feelings,
Rhen and Jinji must find a way to work together. The fate of humanity rests on
their shoulders and the real battle has only just begun…
My Review:
Wow, I'm very impressed by The Spirit Heir. There was so much action that every page kept you turning the pages as fast as you could. The world building is as great as ever and the characters were strong. But not so strong that they wouldn't show us their vulnerable sides.
We start off the story pretty much where it ended in the first book. Rhen has been stabbed and is in a coma and Jinji has been locked up in the dungeon. So when Rhen wakes up, he does what any good man would do. He requests for Jinji and she becomes his personal guest.
That means Jin has to act like a true lady. A lady walks but doesn't run, she wears dresses and basically a lady is everything that Jinji is not.
Of course, you can't forget that Jinji's true self is out of the closet so to speak. Rhen feels betrayed by it all. Why did the boy he felt was like a little brother to him, have to turn out to be this beautiful woman? More importantly he lied...er...she lied. For good reason too but Jinji's couldn't tell him for various reasons.
Would their friendship ever go back to "normal"? The whole time my mind was in a frenzy because you could just feel the chemistry between them. The people of Rhen's kingdom would never accept Jinji's since she is Arpapajo.
That isn't the only complications either. There's a war happening and Jinji is having visions of past lives that she had never lived. While Rhen has a phantom of sorts coming to him and showing him stuff of the future. How these two can handle so much and still be bad a** is beyond me.
There's really not much else for me to say without giving too much away. All you need to know is that there isn't a dull moment in the story. The ending though. That ending! It's one of the endings that make you impatiently wait for the next one.
Speaking of, the next book comes out sometime in 2015, which is kind of tortuous but I like where this is going! I can't wait to see where Rhen and Jinji end up.
My Review:
Wow, I'm very impressed by The Spirit Heir. There was so much action that every page kept you turning the pages as fast as you could. The world building is as great as ever and the characters were strong. But not so strong that they wouldn't show us their vulnerable sides.
We start off the story pretty much where it ended in the first book. Rhen has been stabbed and is in a coma and Jinji has been locked up in the dungeon. So when Rhen wakes up, he does what any good man would do. He requests for Jinji and she becomes his personal guest.
That means Jin has to act like a true lady. A lady walks but doesn't run, she wears dresses and basically a lady is everything that Jinji is not.
Of course, you can't forget that Jinji's true self is out of the closet so to speak. Rhen feels betrayed by it all. Why did the boy he felt was like a little brother to him, have to turn out to be this beautiful woman? More importantly he lied...er...she lied. For good reason too but Jinji's couldn't tell him for various reasons.
Would their friendship ever go back to "normal"? The whole time my mind was in a frenzy because you could just feel the chemistry between them. The people of Rhen's kingdom would never accept Jinji's since she is Arpapajo.
That isn't the only complications either. There's a war happening and Jinji is having visions of past lives that she had never lived. While Rhen has a phantom of sorts coming to him and showing him stuff of the future. How these two can handle so much and still be bad a** is beyond me.
There's really not much else for me to say without giving too much away. All you need to know is that there isn't a dull moment in the story. The ending though. That ending! It's one of the endings that make you impatiently wait for the next one.
Speaking of, the next book comes out sometime in 2015, which is kind of tortuous but I like where this is going! I can't wait to see where Rhen and Jinji end up.
Purchase Links:
The
Shadow Soul (A Dance of Dragons #1)
Now a FREE eBook!!
Description:
GAME OF THRONES meets
GRACELING in a new young adult fantasy by bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis.
Told in alternating male and female perspectives, THE SHADOW SOUL has been
hailed as "an amazing start to a new series that is going to have people
of all ages wanting so much more." (Happy Tails & Tales Reviews)
When Jinji's home is destroyed, she is left with nowhere to run and no one to run to—until she meets Rhen, a prince chasing rumors that foreign enemies have landed on his shores. Masquerading as a boy, Jinji joins Rhen with vengeance in her heart. But traveling together doesn't mean trusting one another, and both are keeping a deep secret—magic. Jinji can weave the elements to create master illusions and Rhen can pull burning flames into his flesh.
But while they struggle to hide the truth, a shadow lurks in the night. An ancient evil has reawakened, and unbeknownst to them, these two unlikely companions hold the key to its defeat. Because their meeting was not coincidence—it was fate. And their story has played out before, in a long forgotten time, an age of myth that is about to be reborn…
When Jinji's home is destroyed, she is left with nowhere to run and no one to run to—until she meets Rhen, a prince chasing rumors that foreign enemies have landed on his shores. Masquerading as a boy, Jinji joins Rhen with vengeance in her heart. But traveling together doesn't mean trusting one another, and both are keeping a deep secret—magic. Jinji can weave the elements to create master illusions and Rhen can pull burning flames into his flesh.
But while they struggle to hide the truth, a shadow lurks in the night. An ancient evil has reawakened, and unbeknownst to them, these two unlikely companions hold the key to its defeat. Because their meeting was not coincidence—it was fate. And their story has played out before, in a long forgotten time, an age of myth that is about to be reborn…
Download/Purchase
Links:
~~~
Author Bio:
Kaitlyn Davis is the bestselling author of the Midnight Fire
series, a young adult paranormal romance, and the A Dance of Dragons series, a
young adult epic fantasy.
Kaitlyn graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in Writing Seminars. She's been writing ever since she picked up her first crayon and is overjoyed to finally share her work with the world. She currently lives in New York City and dreams of having a puppy of her own.
To stay up-to-date with all of Kaitlyn's new releases, sign up for her publication day newsletter here: TinyLetter.com/KaitlynDavisBooks
Kaitlyn graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in Writing Seminars. She's been writing ever since she picked up her first crayon and is overjoyed to finally share her work with the world. She currently lives in New York City and dreams of having a puppy of her own.
To stay up-to-date with all of Kaitlyn's new releases, sign up for her publication day newsletter here: TinyLetter.com/KaitlynDavisBooks
Author Links:
Website: KaitlynDavisBooks.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/KaitlynDavisBooks
Twitter: @DavisKaitlyn
Tumblr: KaitlynDavisBooks.tumblr.com
Wattpad: Wattpad.com/KaitlynDavisBooks
Pinterest: Pinterest.com/kdavisbooks
Youtube: Youtube.com/user/KaitlynDavisBooks
Newsletter: TinyLetter.com/KaitlynDavisBooks
~~~
Excerpt
The
Shadow Soul – Chapter 7
When
Jinji neared the cage, Rhen grasped her arms, lifting her free of the rope and
pulling her safely into the wooden basket. She panted for a moment, regained
her depleted strength, and took in the view.
Blue.
For
miles and miles in every direction, a stark and sparkling blue.
She
tried to stand, but the rocking of the ship was magnified with their height,
and it seemed to tip almost sideways with every other breath. Her legs wobbled,
and then she dropped back to the floor.
"Stay
seated," Rhen said, pushing down just slightly on her shoulder when she
tried to lift herself up for the second time. He sat too, sighing as he dangled
his feet over the edge and leaned back into the railing. His large frame took
up over half of the small space.
Their
arms touched from shoulder to elbow, causing a heat to rise under her skin.
Jinji grabbed her legs, pulling them into her chest and shifting her weight,
careful not to touch his body anymore. It was too intimate, she realized, after
spending so many hours locked in the same room as him. There had to be a
distance between them, otherwise she might slip up, might forget that she was
supposed to be a boy, that she was supposed to be lying.
He might notice that though her face was that of a male, her body was not. The baggy clothes hid it well, but in these close quarters, she had to be careful.
He might notice that though her face was that of a male, her body was not. The baggy clothes hid it well, but in these close quarters, she had to be careful.
No
matter how many times he taunted her, Rhen had come to be a friend, and she
would not mess that up, not yet.
"This
is one of my favorite spots on the ship," he said, eyes still closed in
relaxation, "though many wouldn’t say the same. It's considered a
punishment to be put up here, because of all the movement, but I've always
found it very peaceful, very liberating."
Feeling
her stomach unsettle slowly, Jinji might have agreed with the others, but there
was something oddly comforting in her mood and oddly settled too.
"This
was where I came to escape the castle and my father and mostly my
responsibilities. Even if I was only on the dock, still stuck in Rayfort, I
seemed miles away on top of this ship."
He
opened his eyes slowly. The wind rustled his red hair, forcing it to spill over
his forehead. Jinji wondered if her own short hair was doing the same, without
her braid to keep it still and steady. Just the other night she had borrowed
Rhen's knife to cut it short again, not ready to stop her mourning period—not
even close.
"Do
you have a place like that?"
Jinji
closed her eyes tight, fighting back the water gathering there.
The
clearing.
The
meadow.
It
used to be her spot, but all she saw now was Leoa, tying her braid, pulling
over her joining dress. Both of them giggling, completely ignorant to the cries
of their people, to the children and the women, to the warriors, to her
parents. Even to Maniuk, singled out by the shadow for his strength and his
skill—used and discarded.
All
she heard now was the blood-curdling scream that cracked her spirit in half,
the pounding of her footsteps, the soft thud of a body as it fell to the
ground.
"No,"
was all she said. No, she didn’t have a safe place like that, not anymore.
"It
will get better," Rhen said. Jinji wouldn’t look at him, but instead
focused on the far away horizon. "I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it
will."
He
took a deep breath, cracked his knuckles. Jinji almost heard the words waiting
on his lips, could feel them press against his tongue wanting to come out. The
air was static, electric from his pounding heart, his pulsing nerves.
And
then it all stopped.
Silence.
"I
had a younger brother once," Rhen confessed, his words heavy with an
emotion that was mirrored by Jinji's wounded soul. "He was barely a year
old when he was murdered by the man my father trusted most in the world. And I
could have stopped it, if I had only understood what—" His voice shook,
wavered on an edge. "I found papers that held evidence the murder was
going to take place, but I was too young to understand what they meant, too
naïve to know what I had found. And for that, my brother paid the price."
He turned, met her stare with eyes a deep dark green, like the forest at twilight. "I know what it means to lose someone, but I also know that though the pain will never fully fade, eventually you will be able to endure it."
He turned, met her stare with eyes a deep dark green, like the forest at twilight. "I know what it means to lose someone, but I also know that though the pain will never fully fade, eventually you will be able to endure it."
Jinji
didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing at all. Silence was the better
option. Silence let the words sink in, let their truth ring, let her realize
that Rhen had allowed her a peek at a place within himself that he didn’t show
to everyone—that he did not even show to most people.
Jinji
opened her mouth, aching to tell her own story, but her throat closed up,
stealing the sound from her voice.
She
trusted him, after all he had done for her, Jinji trusted Rhen. But trusting
someone was one thing, and opening herself up to him, making herself vulnerable
to be hurt again, that was something else entirely. Rhen might have been
willing, but it was only because he didn’t know that in the end, he would just
be wounded—by her lie if he ever found out the truth or by her leaving without
a word of goodbye.
And
Jinji couldn’t handle any more pain.
"Thank
you," she said quietly, instantly regretting it. Rhen blinked once, but
once was all it took for his gaze to unglaze and his features to retreat, to
harden. One blink was all it took for him to shut himself off again.
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