Saturday, April 4, 2015

Blood Tied by Dale Ibitz & a giveaway

Title:  Blood Tied
Series:  Last Moon Rising #4
Author:  Dale Ibitz
Published:  October 19/14
Length:  357pgs
Genre:  YA fantasy
Shelf:  review
Rating: ★★★★★

Back Cover Blurb:

In the final installment to the Last Moon Rising series, the road to harmony is filled with conflict.

18 year-old Haley’s been betrayed not only by her blood-brother Luke, but Tuggin, the Menta-witch compelled to protect her…and destined to kill her. Almost everyone she knows has lied to her. Some want a savior; some want to use her; some want to destroy her. As she soldiers on, gathering the Eyid-emos and finding the stones of power to stop the war raging between the gods of nature, she should be at the height of her power and confidence. She should feel complete. What she shouldn’t feel is the chaos rising inside her mind.

Haley’s sanity slowly unravels. She sees things and people that aren’t there. She’s suspicious of her brother and her best friend Elana, imagining betrayal. Tuggin and Luke invade her mind, creating confusion, trying to convince her that her confidant Dane is really her arch enemy, Ian. And then there are the death threats from a trusted Menta-witch and Soltar, the Fire Eyid himself. Or has she imagined those, too?

When the madness reaches its breaking point she’s betrayed, again, by the person she considers a trusted friend. At the point of a total collapse, the Eyid-emos lose faith in her as she spirals into insanity, leaving her to fight the darkness alone.

The fate of all seven globes in the planetary chain rests on the one person who may slowly be losing her mind.

My Review:

Ibitz has done it again! This novel is the perfect mix of fantasy and magic. It’s fast pace keeps you racing forward to the conclusion, hoping against hope, and cheering the characters along. The plot twists kept me on my toes throughout, leaving me with goosebumps at times. Above all, adventure definitely rules the day in the very vivid world that Ibitz has created. And what a complete world it is. Ibitz not only develops her world visually, so that you can picture it, but in all other aspects as well. Eyidora has a complete history and mythology to go with it. The customs and beliefs of the world and of each of its regions are presented in a way that truly enhances the story.

I loved seeing the characters that we’ve come to know throughout the series really come into their own and reach their full potential. The complex web between the characters in this series has definitely hit a high point here. Betrayal and deception vie with loyalty and friendship throughout. The mixing of the different dialects and slangs never failed to make me smile, in fact it ‘kicked some donkey.’ I couldn’t help but laughing every time someone said something that got twisted around in translation. And the bird. I absolutely love the bird. She might be one of my favourite secondary characters ever. Talk about comic relief.

This is a bittersweet novel for me. It is the culmination of one series that I’m definitely sorry to see end, but absolutely loved the way that it ended. I’d highly recommend it (and the stories that precede it in the series) to one and all.


Enter to win in this extraordinary giveaway with Dale Ibitz & the Last Moon Rising series.
1 lucky winner will receive a print set including all 4 novels in the Last Moon Rising series.
2 winners will receive an ecopy of all 4 novels in the Last Moon Rising series.

Contest is open internationally, where applicable by law.
Entries close at 11:59pm April 10/15.
Winners will be drawn April 11/15.
Winners will be notified via email to the email provided to the giveaway and will have 72h to claim their prize or another winner will be drawn.

16 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! I've gotten behind in this series! I need to read book 3 still! Great post, great review!

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  2. I love the blurbs on all of the books in this series! It looks epic :)

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  3. I better win. I better win. I better win. (X 100 -- I used to write sentences on the blackboard for misbehaving at school!) --Michael :-)

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  4. Hello Dale, The Last Moon Rising Series sounds great! I would love to read it. Thank you

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  5. thanks for the giveaway and if i do win, i would prefer the digital format. :)

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  6. Hey there! Thanks for the giveaway :)

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  7. This story looks amazing! I can't wait to read it!

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  8. Thank you for hosting me! I for one found it hard to say good bye to these characters, who've been with me for 10 years.

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  9. Thank you for hosting me! I for one found it hard to say good bye to these characters, who've been with me for 10 years.

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  10. I WOULD LITERALLY DIE! This is an amazing giveaway thank you so much for the chance!

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  11. I look forward to reading your books. They sound very interesting.

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