eBook Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Title: Cruel Beauty
Author: Rosamund Hodge
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Edition: I/ eBook English Version
Published: January 2014
Page: 352
ISBN: 978-0-062-22475-0
Genre: Young-Adult Fiction, Romance, Mythology

Synopsis:

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

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eBook Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Synopsis:
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her. 

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

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eBook Review: Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Synopsis: When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren's refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.

As food runs low and the days go from boiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable.

But the arrival outside the tower of Saren's two suitors—one welcome, and the other decidedly less so—brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.

With Shannon Hale's lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.

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Book Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Judul: Seraphina
Judul Asli: Seraphina
Pengarang: Rachel Hartman
Penerbit: Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Cetakan: I/Mei 2013
Penerjemah: Poppy D. Chusfani
ISBN: 978-979-22-9621-1
Tebal: 544hlm
Genre: Novel (Teenager, Young-Adult)

Sinopsis:

Selama empat dekade, manusia dan naga di kerajaan Goredd berdamai. Kaum naga mewujud menjadi manusia dan menyumbangkan pikiran mereka yang rasional serta matematis. Namun, akhir-akhir ini hubungan di antara kedua kaum memburuk. Apalagi ketika salah satu anggota kerajaan terbunuh dan ada kecurigaan bahwa pelakunya naga.

Sebagai musisi yang sangat berbakat, Seraphina Dombegh bergabung dengan kelompok musisi istana. Ia kemudian mau tidak mau terlibat dalam penyelidikan pembunuhan itu, bekerja sama dengan Pangeran Lucian Kiggs yang sangat awas.

Sementara mereka mulai membongkar rencana jahat untuk menghancurkan perdamaian, Seraphina berjuang melindungi rahasianya sendiri, rahasia di balik bakat musiknya yang luar biasa, rahasia yang begitu mengerikan sehingga dapat membahayakan nyawanya.

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Book Review: Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

Judul: Homeless Bird
Judul Asli: Homeless Bird
Pengarang: Gloria Whelan
Penerbit: Atria
Cetakan: I/September 2012
Penerjemah: Ida Wajdi
Tebal: 182hlm
ISBN: 978-979-024-504-4
Genre: Novel Remaja-Dewasa

Sinopsis:

Seperti kebanyakan gadis lainnya di India yang berusia tiga belas tahun, Koly pun harap-harap cemas akan rencana pernikahannya. Walaupun dia ingin menikah, dia tidak mau meninggalkan keluarganya. 

Ternyata, pernikahan itu tidak sesuai dengan apa yang dibayangkan. Sebuah peristiwa tragis mengubah segalanya dan dia menemukan dirinya terasing di keluarga barunya.

Dia terjebak dalam tradisi yang mengendalikan takdir. Dia terbuang, tersesat dalam dunia yang kejam dan tidak dikenalinya. Namun terkadang, keberanian dan harapan bisa lebih kuat daripada tradisi. Dan seseorang, dapat menentukan takdirnya sendiri.

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[Early] December's Book Haul

Hi readers!

Nggak terasa sekarang sudah di penghujung tahun 2013 ya. Anyway, sudah nge-haul apa aja nih di bulan Desember? Pasti macam-macam ya. Emm, kalau aku sih udah nge-haul beberapa novel baru, hihihi.

O ya, sebelum lanjut ke main topic untuk post kali ini aku mau sedikit cerita soal hobi baruku yaitu mengkoleksi novel. Aku sebenarnya sudah sejak SD tertarik dengan yang namanya membaca buku, tapi dulu aku jarang membeli buku bacaan, palingan cuman pinjam di perpus atau pinjam di tempat penyewaan komik dan novel. Tapi karena sekarang sudah tamat kuliah dan sudah jarang ke perpus apalagi males buang-buang uang buat nyewa novel (yang palingan cuman dijatah 2 hari sewa per novel) jadi aku memutuskan untuk mulai tekun mengkoleksi novel-novel. Niat buat mengkoleksi novel ini dimulai bulan Agustus lalu, setelah aku selesai sidang skripsi. Untuk saat ini sih baru terkumpul sekitar 30an novel (masih sedikit banget), tapi aku berjanji pada diri sendiri untuk terus menambah koleksi novel-novelku di rumah.

Untuk jenis-jenis bacaannya sendiri, secara keseluruhan, aku lebih suka dengan novel atau buku cerita yang mengarah ke genre fantasi dengan sedikit bumbu misteri dan supernatural. Aku suka dengan novel yang mengulas kehidupan kerajaan-kerajaan, dunia peri, penyihir, dongeng, legenda, dan perjalanan lintas waktu. Tapi tidak menutup kemungkinan aku juga suka membaca novel-novel berisi tentang roman, fashion, detektif, dan action.

Nah, di bulan Desember ini aku membeli sekitar 6 novel baru. Kenapa aku golongkan dalam "Early Haul" karena aku masih bermaksud untuk membeli beberapa novel lagi nanti. Hehe. Yuk, cek novel apa saja yang aku beli.

New Year's Wishlist

Berhubung bulan Desember ini sudah beli banyak buku (besok akan saya update di sesi "HAUL"), maka beberapa buku inceran saya akan saya masukkan ke dalam "Wishlist" tahun baru. Ada cukup banyak sih buku atau lebih tepatnya novel fiksi yang saya pengen punya beli sebelum tahun 2014. Berikut salah banyaknya, haha.

1. The Hollow

Pengarang: Jessica Verday

Penerbit: Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Harga:Rp64.000

2. The Haunted (The Hollow #2)

Pengarang: Jessica Verday

Penerbit: Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Harga: Rp68.000

3. Beyonders (Beyonders #1)

Pengarang: Brandon Mull

Penerbit: Noura Books (Mizan)

Harga: Rp74.000