Book Review No. 4

The Nine Lives of Chloe King: The Chosen by Liz Braswell

Traci Kenworth

 

YA Horror                                                       Simon Pulse

 

Hook sentence: “Hey, King. How you feeling?”

 

Chloe King has been happy to coast through high school’s anonymity but the explanation for her long absence from school (as arranged by her people) is that she had Mono all that time. We feel her horror, her disgrace at this sentence and the snickers in the hallways find us cringing as well. Of all the things Sergei has done to her—this was the worst. She had hoped things would go back to normal but they hadn’t. The Order had been reasonably quiet since she gave up one of her lives to save her mom. She wasn’t really talking to anyone at Firebird right now—her feelings toward Sergei are still unresolved. Brian was missing. And Chloe was still torn between him and Alyec.

About the only one’s life that is still on course as a sophomore is Amy. She’s going to graduate a year early and is planning to go to Fashion Institute.

Chloe has dreams of her murdered sister and wonders about the brother she was told she may have. She isn’t sure how she feels about being the One, so she avoids Firebird. Alyec explains she is different from everyone—even other Mai. Adjusting to her old life may be hard.

Paul and Amy are breaking up and it begins to have its effects on the Trio’s relationship.

Out running on roof tops, in a game of tag, a housecat leads her to a human body, unmoving and broken looking. Brian, stabbed by the Order. She has only one place she can take him: Firebird. She is stunned by their reverence of her. Kim offers to be Chloe’s advisor. The Mai doctor tells her if she doesn’t want to take him to the hospital—his body will have to do most of the healing on its own. Brian kisses her for a really longtime before he passes out. A death sentence for a human.

Later, she meets up with Alyec and kisses him on the cheek because nothing else feels right then. She tells him about Brian—omitting kiss. Afterwards, she feels like someone’s following her then gets a call from Sergei. He arranges a meeting about Brian.

There is no sign of toxic shock yet for Brian. An awkward meeting to transfer leadership to Chloe takes place where she suggests he keep the business part and let her be the Spiritual Leader. The Pride is not a democracy, he says.

Alyec and Amy share a moment which makes Chloe annoyed. Alyec admits he’s a flirt, it comes with the purchase. He calls her on Brian. She tells him she has to think and goes home. She finds Xavier is alive and well. He says he was in a coma and then he just woke up on Oct. 19^th—the day Chloe died for the second time. Kim says she’s lifting the curse by giving her life for a human. Brian and her catch up and kiss.

At a party her mom throws to get to know her friends better, Chloe breaks down about everything. Alyec comforts. She tells him she doesn’t want them together right now. He agrees. She tells him someone’s following her. Kim says she thought she heard someone approaching the house but no one was there.

Sergei asks her to meet him at an old abandoned theater, he has info on her dad. He traps her with the Rogue. The Rogue and the Order don’t want any mystical leaders who might unite humans and the Mai. The Rogue says he’s wrong. He hates all Mai. He and Sergei fight. Sergei dies. Police burst into the room while Rogue fighting Chloe and both take off their separate ways.

Chloe curses herself for not having come up with a plan for her friends to follow. She realizes she must assume leadership. She calls Brian’s father and offers him a truce. He says no.
The Order hasn’t been organized so well since her death and now the Mai will be defenseless with their leader down. She hangs up asking him how his son is. She calls police and tells them about fight, omitting herself.

The police uncover the many deaths Sergei has been responsible for, from his native Russia to the U.S. Chloe allows her people to absorb the shock that he was a traitor and a murderer even as she puts Igor in charge of the real estate part of Firebird and Olga as the CEO. She will lead her people to peace. Starting with following the country they live in, rules. Alyec roars his approval as do others.  Someone is missing from the meeting. Later, she learns it is Dimitri and that he killed a member of the Order in retaliation.

Chloe calls Whitney and demands he and his cronies stand down. She warns they have his son. Taking everyone, including humans with her, she tells everyone that Mai and humans can be together to the shock of Amy. Alyec grabs Amy and kisses her long and hard. Richard is the one Dimitri killed. Paul breaks in with news of the Rogue’s capture and that he’s to be committed for his long line of murders.

The Order wants one more life to even the balance. Dimitri offers but Chloe says no. It’s to be hers—

 

These books really rocked. They were SO different from the TV show, but I loved both. If health issues hadn’t kept me from moving faster, this would’ve been a quick series read. I enjoyed the characters, the setting, learning about the Mai. And usually, I don’t change my mind about who a character should end up with, but this book did that for me. The only thing that bothered me were there were a few loose ends: the hinting of a brother (which I was so sure was going to be Alyec. Lol.), and the mystery surrounding her adoptive father. Neither were explained but continually hinted at from beginning to end. Is there to be another book in the future? I don’t know. I would revisit the characters if there were. It was a pleasure to watch Chloe go from a clueless high school student to a strong leader of a dying race. Her character arc and growth were amazing. I was very satisfied with this series and would read more books by Liz Braswell (who also writes as Celia Thompson).

 

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My First Tag!!

Cover of The Stand

1.  If you could be any fictional baddie who would you be and why? My favorite baddie would be the Walking Dude but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be him. Lol. He’s too creepy. And from recent reads, I’d have to choose between zombies, ghosts, and zealous Mai hunters. Oh, maybe one of them, Brian from Liz Braswell’s The Nine Lives of Chloe King because he finds redemption.

2. If you could go back in time and stop someone being born who would it be? Hitler.

3. When do you get your most inspirational ideas? While sleeping. My books usually spring from a vivid dream I have about them.

4.  If you had to live without either books or music, which would it be? Music.

5.  Who provides the most encouragement for your writing? My kids and cp partners are tied.

6.  If you could have one wish, what would it be? I would take the favor granted to me by the Lord and push it forward.

7.  Do you remember your dreams and do they influence your writing? Yes. See No. 3. I usually have snapshots of the books while sleeping, dream of characters and the situations they’re in, and find myself lost in the settings.

8.  What word do you frequently misspell? Gray as grey. I always try to write it British.

9.  How much influence in your writing do you take from other people’s opinions? It depends on how trustworthy I find them. I have to know the person, that they have my best interests at heart, and it has to resonate with me as being the right step to take.

10. If there is one book you wish you’d written, what is it? The Stand by Stephen King.

11. Starter or Desert? I think the hydraulic engine if that’s what you’re referring to. It beats a walk in dead landscape.

Okay, this tag is from W. Chaser. For my own taggies, I’ll choose from recent visitors too:

Clarbojahn

Celesta Rimington

The Accidental Novelist

Claire L. Fishback

Shelly Brown

Should you choose to accept, here are my questions:

1. Career or hobby novelist?

2. Longhand or keyboard?

3. Do you have your office set up with business cards, sticky notes, notebooks etc. with your writing name?

4. What inspires you the most?

5. Male, female or both protagonist viewpoints?

6. What helps you focus on your writing?

7. Any tips for other aspiring writers?

8. Which fictional character do you wish you’d written?

9. Which fictional character would you try to reform?

10. Do you work on more than one project at once?

11. Fiction, non-fiction, or both?

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Book Review 3: 2012

Cover of The Stolen (Nine Lives of Chloe King)

Book Review 3:2012

The Nine Lives of Chloe King: The Stolen by Liz Braswell

Traci Kenworth

 

YA Horror                                                                  Simon Pulse

Warning:Spoilers

Hook: She was back at the Golden Gate Bridge.

The book starts with Chloe remembering the fight on the bridge, except this time things are different. Alexander Smith—the Rogue—appears and Brian and Alyec fall off the bridge, Brian wanting to know who she chooses. She wakes up covered in sweat and trembling. She wasn’t home. She was at a place Alyec had taken her to after the fight. He doesn’t know she still has cell phone and she places a call to Amy and tells her, she’s fine, and one to her mom to tell her she’s at Keira’s.

Soon after, she’s introduced to Sergei, leader of this group of Mai. Her disappearance has been explained away as her being witness to a dangerous crime and put into protective custody. He explains to her who she is—a daughter of the Kings of the Hunt. Goddesses were their ancestors. He says they had Alyec watching her for some time because she seemed “different.” He tells her that humans and Mai cannot be together physically—their toxic to one another. She understands now why Brian didn’t kiss her like Alyec. Xavier probably didn’t die from just her kiss, he explains.

Paul and Amy are still searching the bridge—almost a day has passed and there’s been no sign of Chloe. Paul thinks he saw a body fall from the bridge but doesn’t tell Amy. Amy thinks it has to do with Alyec and that he’s gotten her into something bad. Paul thinks it has to do with her fall of the Coit Tower and Brian. Amy confronts Alyec and tells him she was there on the bridge and saw what happened. He denies everything.

Meanwhile Chloe meets Kim, a girl who has reverted to catlike ways of the Mai. She keeps claws out and has big, cat ears. Kim tells her the history of the Mai. There are four Prides in the New World—but one was lost. She said she had a sister when she came in, wonders if it is Chloe. Sergei runs a real estate office where most of the Mai work as it is difficult for them to be in the real world. Brian sits in on an emergency meeting of the Order. He tries to defend Chloe but they won’t listen. He calls Chloe and tells her he never killed anyone. He tells her he did want to kiss her. Alyec interrupts. He looks hurt when he discovers Brian called.

Kim explains to Chloe that there are 2 cat gods. Two forms of the same goddess. Bastet is maternal: love, the home, the physical, emotional and spiritual growth. Sekhmet is the goddess of their soldiers, the kezekh, and she defends her young fiercely. Like a mother protects her cubs. She tells her about the curse 5000 years ago in which a Mai girl and a human boy fell in love. The girl was murdered by the boy’s family and friends and in retaliation, the Mai slaughtered all humans in a twenty-mile radius. The Mai were cursed by the gods never to return to their homelands until the wrong had been righted.

Chloe tries to sneak back home but is attacked by the Order. Two Mai rescue her. They speak of Sergei not losing any of his lives, assuming he has more than one. They shush as they worry if she’s conscious. She dreams of ancient Egypt. Sergei is there when she wakes. She agrees to wait and reunite with her mom. Kim warns her not to speak of her dreams. She tells her leaders of the Pride give their lives for their people, up to nine times if necessary. She says no Mai has done this in this generation.

Amy and Paul discover Chloe’s mom is missing.

Chloe overhears Sergei tell his guards that someone needs removed, she presents too many liabilities. He claims he’s talking about a female member of the order but she realizes liability is used for someone on the home teams. Brian and Chloe meet up. He tells her he loves her. She goes to see Amy and Paul and tells them everything. They tell her about her mother. She rushes home to find her mom gone. Anna King comes to, tied to a chair. The Order says Chloe’s fallen in with the wrong crowd and Anna needs protected. Chloe goes to Sergei but he tells her he won’t risk his soldiers on a human.

Chloe, Kim, and Alyec go back to her home to search for clues to where her mother is. Kim finds that there were two human males and one woman there that took her. She also discovers that two male Mai came afterwards. She explains that sometimes the human family members are killed to keep the young Mai loyal to the pack. She tells her the Order of the Tenth Blade gets its name from the nine blades it takes to kill the One. The tenth is for the Tenth Blader if he fails.

Brian calls Chloe with the news the Order has her mother. She hangs up and makes a call to his father. She wants to do an exchange. Her for the mother.

Although I found this book a little slower-paced due to all the background on the Mai and the Order of the Tenth Blade, I still would give it four stars. The characters are likeable, enjoyable, and the mystery keeps you on your toes trying to discover everyone’s next move. I did find a few pov switches and places where a character couldn’t possibly know the information presented, but overall, I found it a good read. The climax was thrilling and the story wrapped up with a cliffhanger to lead into the third and final book of this series, The Chosen.

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