Russia

The Crown’s Game

~ Angela ~ 5 Comments

The Crown’s Game (The Crown’s Game #1) by Evelyn Skye (2016)

the crown's game

YA Fiction | Fantasy
3 StarsBlurb:

“Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.  Continue reading →

Anna Karenina

~ Angela ~ Leave a comment

Anna Karenina (Movie, 2012)

Anna Karenina

Drama | Historical | Romance
Rated R
4 Stars

Lead Cast: Keira Knightly (Anna Karenina), Jude Law (Karenin), Matthew Macfadyen (Oblonsky), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Count Vronsky), & others

Synopsis: “Anna Karenina (Keira Knightley), the wife of a Russian imperial minister (Jude Law), creates a high-society scandal by an affair with Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a dashing cavalry officer in 19th-century St. Petersburg. Anna’s husband, Alexei, offers her a difficult choice: Go into exile with Vronsky but never see her young son again, or remain with her family and abide by the rules of discretion. Meanwhile, a farmer named Levin pines for Princess Kitty, who only has eyes for Vronsky.” –Google Continue reading →

Animal Farm

~ Angela ~ 2 Comments

Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)

animal farm

Fiction | Historical | Classic5 starsBlurb:

“Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This 1945 satire addresses the socialist/communist philosophy of Stalin in the Soviet Union.”
–Goodreads  Continue reading →

Siege and Storm

~ Angela ~ 1 Comment

Siege and Storm (The Grisha #2) by Leigh Bardugo (2013)

Siege and Storm

YA Fiction | Fantasy
3.5 StarsBlurb:

“Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land. She finds starting new is not easy while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. She can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.  Continue reading →

Shadow and Bone

~ Angela ~ 2 Comments

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) by Leigh Bardugo (2012)

shadow-and-bone_hi-res-677x1024

YA Fiction | Fantasy
4 StarsBlurb:

“Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Continue reading →