Hello! Today, we're happy to be a part of the blog tour for Christina Farley's second novel, Silvern! This is the sequel to Gilded, and is definitely one that you'll want to pick up as soon as you finish reading Gilded.
As part of the blog tour, we have Ashley's review for you, as well as a giveaway. So make sure to enter via the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post!
About the Book
Author: Christina Farley
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release date: September 23, 2014
Synopsis: Jae Hwa Lee has destroyed Haemosu, the dangerous demi-god that held her ancestors captive, and now she’s ready to forget about immortals and move on with her life. Then the god of darkness, Kud, sends an assassin to kill her. Jae escapes with the knowledge that Kud is seeking the lost White Tiger Orb, and joins the Guardians of Shinshi to seek out the orb before Kud can find it.
But Kud is stronger and more devious than Haemosu ever was. Jae is soon painfully reminded that by making an enemy of Kud, she has placed her closest friends in danger, and must decide how much she can bear to sacrifice to defeat one of the most powerful immortals in all of Korea.
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Praise for GILDED, the first book in the series:
“An amazing contemporary fantasy that explores the vast legends of Korea, this richly detailed novel kept me turning the pages well into the night. Jae Hwa starts off as a strong character and ends as a noble one, using both her brains and her brawn to win the day–she’s exactly the kind of girl YA literature needs.”
~from Beth Revis, NY Times Bestselling author of Across the Universe series
"Farley brings South Korea's fascinating culture and mythology into vivid detail in this shining debut, and Jae is a compelling heroine. An exotic, thrilling read, GILDED had me utterly entranced!"
~from Jessica Khoury, author of ORIGIN and VITRO
About the Author
CHRISTINA FARLEY, author of Gilded, was born and raised in upstate New York. As a child, she loved to explore, which later inspired her to jump on a plane and travel the world. She taught at international schools in Asia for ten years, eight of which were in the mysterious and beautiful city of Seoul, Korea that became the setting of Gilded. Currently she lives in Clermont, FL with her husband and two sons—that is until the travel itch whisks her off to a new unknown. Gilded is her first novel. For more details, check out her website at www.christinafarley.com. Christina holds a master’s degree in education and has taught for eighteen years. She is represented by Jeff Ourvan of Jennifer Lyons Literary.
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Ashley's Review
You can also find my review for Gilded here!
Ok, so I really enjoyed Gilded. I love the fantasy elements, I loved the mythological elements, and pretty much just everything about the book. I was SO excited to find out about Silvern, which delves deeper into the Spirit World and Jae Hwa's life and puts her up against the Korean god of darkness. Because Kud was terrifying in Gilded and he was only there briefly. And Silvern really lived up to all of my expectations and I think I loved it every bit as much as Gilded!
Knowing a little bit of Korean mythology (all of which I learned from Gilded), made this book a little easier to read and a little more enjoyable. There are still creatures and gods/goddesses that I wasn't familiar with, but knowing the main ones (like Kud, Palk, Hachi, and some of the other creatures) meant that I spent less time trying to figure out who was who and who did what and more time reading the story. The new creatures that are introduced are absolutely awful, and I'm so glad that they don't actually exist (at least I hope...). Like I do NOT ever want to come across a blood weasel. That just sounds like the worst thing ever. They still give me nightmares.
Most of the characters from the first book are back, in at least some capacity. Jae is still with Marc, Michelle is still her best friend who knows nothing about what happened, her dad and her grandfather are still there and her dad wants her to be done with the Spirit World while her grandfather just hopes that she's done, and Komo is still in a coma and in the hospital. But there are new characters, which I really enjoyed getting to know. I was so undecided about Kang-dae for most of the book, and I just wanted someone to tell me what his deal was. When I finally found out, it was one of those I KNEW IT moment that I really hoped wouldn't happen.
Silvern is a little slower paced than Gilded, I think, but it didn't take away from the story and I actually enjoyed reading about how Jae and Marc and the Council were trying to figure things out instead of rushing headfirst into a battle with Kud. Jae is less annoying too, although she still doesn't listen when someone tells her "DON'T TOUCH THAT." Like I'm pretty sure she's got some complex about touching things.
And then there was the ending. I hate when I'm reading on my Kindle and I see there's like 5% of the book left and there's still no resolution and then ALL OF A SUDDEN the book is over. I understand why Jae made the decisions she did and I understand why things happened the way they did, but I'm going to be so mad if this is the end of Jae's story. I am desperately awaiting a sequel, because I want things to work out better for Jae and her family and friends. I mean, things can't just end like that!
If you read and enjoyed Gilded, you'll definitely want to pick up Silvern. If you're looking for a YA fantasy with contemporary and mythological elements, you don't want to miss this series. And even though the end made me all rage-y, Christina's writing is still gorgeous and had me hooked and now I can't wait to see what's next. A 4/5! And a huge hope that the sequel comes out sooner rather than later!!!
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