By Cynthia Ayala
Summer vacation is coming to a close. I know for some that the school year has started. Mine will start in a matter of a couple of weeks. It’s my last semester at Emerson College. It’s weird thinking that it will be my last semester. I just have to pass my classes and then I’m okay. Man, it’s weird that it may be coming to end soon. My last summer vacation, it’s crazy!
Anyway, here is my weekly reading list for the end of the summer. Happy reading!
“Six years have passed since England’s King Charles II returned from exile to reclaim the throne, ushering in a new era of stability for his subjects.
Except for Elizabeth Milton. The daughter of notorious poet John Milton, Elizabeth has never known her place in this shifting world—except by her father’s side. By day she helps transcribe his latest masterpiece, the epic poem Paradise Lost, and by night she learns languages and sword fighting. Although she does not dare object, she suspects that he’s training her for a mission whose purpose she cannot fathom.
Until one night the reason becomes clear: the king’s men arrive at her family’s country home to arrest her father. Determined to save him, Elizabeth follows his one cryptic clue and journeys to Oxford, accompanied by her father’s mysterious young houseguest, Antonio Vivani, a darkly handsome Italian scientist who surprises her at every turn. Funny, brilliant, and passionate, Antonio seems just as determined to protect her father as she is—but can she trust him with her heart?
When the two discover that Milton has planted an explosive secret in the half-finished Paradise Lost—a secret the king and his aristocratic supporters are desperate to conceal—Elizabeth is faced with a devastating choice: cling to the shelter of her old life or risk cracking the code, unleashing a secret that could save her father…and tear apart the very fabric of society.”
“Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.
But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.
If only it was that simple. Katharine is unable to tolerate the weakest poison, and Arsinoe, no matter how hard she tries, can’t make even a weed grow. The two queens have been shamefully faking their powers, taking care to keep each other, the island, and their powerful sister Mirabella none the wiser. But with alliances being formed, betrayals taking shape, and ruthless revenge haunting the queens’ every move, one thing is certain: the last queen standing might not be the strongest…but she may be the darkest.”
3. The Unraveling (Wonderland #2)
“A year ago, Cadence claimed to have journeyed to Wonderland, but nobody believes her. Melody returns to her childhood home to assist her parents in trying to snap Cadence out of the fantasy she’s constructed with Cheshire cats and a heroic knight named Gareth. Only, when Melody follows a white rabbit into the woods, she finds herself in the same place she’d asked Cadence to admit didn’t exist.
Very little matters to Hatter aside from tea time and creating things with his hands. After he helps Devrel bring the wrong girl into Wonderland to save Gareth from an arranged marriage, Hatter has no choice but to open his home, and a seat at his tea table, to Melody. Thinking she will undoubtedly leave him as Alice did when he was younger, Hatter tries not to notice his attraction to her even though he cannot seem to look away.
Unbeknownst to them all, Cadence follows her sister down the rabbit hole, but is left to search for Gareth alone. She ventures through the vast Tulgey Wood and realizes danger lurks within the ruins of a kingdom forgotten after the Red Queen executed the Queen of Hearts long ago. Can she warn the people of Wonderland in time, or will she be expelled twice?”
*Disclaimer: All synopsis are provided by Goodreads.