Under The Book Cover: alex lidell

Power of Five by Alex Lidell Blog Tour!

alex lidell 8:00:00 AM

Hi hello and welcome to the Power of Five series Blog Tour, hosted by Rockstar Book Tours! Today, I am so excited to share my review of book one, Power of Five, a book that caught me completely off guard. I honestly just saw the cover and was like, "Yup, I want to read this" and then I discovered what it was about while reading and, well, I was pretty surprised. This was my first venture into a reverse harem book and honestly? I enjoyed it! Be sure to stick around to the end of the post for a giveaway and the schedule and links to the rest of the bloggers on this tour. Let's get started!
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Title: Power of Five
Author: Alex Lidell
Pages: 226
Genre: Fantasy/Reverse Harem
Release Date: 04 May 2018

From Goodreads: "Orphaned and sold to a harsh master, Lera’s life is about mucking stalls, avoiding her master’s advances, and steering clear of the mystical forest separating the mortal and fae worlds. Only fools venture into the immortal realms, and only dark rumors come out... Until four powerful fae warriors appear at Lera’s barn. River, Coal, Tye, and Shade have waited a decade for their new fifth to be chosen, the wounds from their quint brother’s loss still raw. But the magic has played a cruel trick, bonding the four immortal warriors to... a female. A mortal female. Distractingly beautiful and dangerously frail, Lera can only be one thing—a mistake. Yet as the males bring Lera back to the fae lands to sever the bond, they discover that she holds more power over their souls than is safe for anyone... especially for Lera herself."

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Thank you to Rockstar Book Tours and Alex Lidell for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

Okay, so, honestly, I had no idea this was a reverse harem book. I just saw the cover and was like "Oh this is pretty, I want to read it" and only when I was reading did I discover that this was...different from what I normally read. But I genuinely enjoyed it and immediately went and got books 2-4 to read because this was just that frickin good.

Plot:

Long story short, Lera is a slave that lives on the edge of a forest that separates the mortal and fae worlds. One day, several fae males (haha oh that word) come out of the forest and take her away because Lera has been chosen to be the fifth member of their quint. But a female human being bonded to an all-male (that word again) immortal fae warrior quint is impossible, a mistake. So they're off to the Citadel to have the bond severed. But the longer the five spend together, the more they discover that Lera holds more power over them than is safe for anyone, especially Lera herself.

This is definitely a first book in the series. Now, that's not a bad thing, but it sets up a bunch of things that will (hopefully) be addressed later on in the series. I really liked that this book moved fairly quickly because it allowed you to really get into the story and learn more about the characters as you progress. There was definitely a really good mix of action, romance, backstory, and plot/current story spread throughout and that was something I was so happy to see. Never having read a New Adult (or even a reverse harem book, for that matter) I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to the story/plot of one, but I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading! It wasn't super focused on one aspect of the story but, as I said above, a good mix of several different things all combined to make one really addicting story. I loved following Lera and her journey to kind of figure out just what her role in this fae warrior quint is and seeing how she interacted with the four guys as the story progressed.

Characters:

I wanted so much more of all of the boys in this book, oh my goodness. I've been becoming more open to reading multiple POV books and this one was just a slam dunk for me! You get way more of Lera's perspective (which isn't a bad thing) but there were little sprinkles of Tye, Coal, and one chapter from River. When I say little, I mean little, but it was enough to make me want more! I'm really hoping to see more points of view from each of the guys in the rest of the series because I'm so interested to learn their individual backstories and how they came about being a part of the quint. They're all from different backgrounds and parts of this world that I would really love to see more about them and where they came from. I'm not sure if I have a favorite (okay that might be a lie, I really like Shade) but I feel like I'll end up liking each of them for their own reasons once I continue on with the rest of the books.

Lera was such a strong female main character who definitely was no damsel in distress and I really appreciated the departure from that stereotype that I tend to encounter in books. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind or even to say no whenever she wanted or when she felt uncomfortable, despite the abuse she experienced from her previous...guardian...? I said this above but I loved seeing her interactions with each of the four guys and how different each encounter or conversation with them was. But I really liked her character and I think that I can already see her becoming even stronger and more awesome as the series progresses!

All of the characters, in general, were very well-written and I enjoyed not only reading the very short chapters from Tye, Coal, and River but also getting to see the four guys from Lera's point of view. They were all so unique and had great personalities and it was super easy to tell them apart, especially as the story went on and you got to know them a little bit better. I can definitely tell that these characters are going to be some of my favorites and I know that as I read the rest of the books, I'm going to love reading their development and learning more about them!

Writing:

Let me get this out of the way before I go into my thoughts on the writing in this book. I noticed as I started to read that the word 'male' was used...often. So often, in fact, that I went back to the beginning and started to count in my notes how many times the word was used. I also started to count the word 'female' just to see if there was an imbalance in the two words. But the total number of times that the word 'male' was used in all 226 pages of this book is 192 and 'female' is 40. I'm not necessarily annoyed by this or anything, it actually just became a game for me to keep a tally in my notes on the count and this was something that I, for some reason, really wanted to point out.

Alright, let's talk about the writing! I actually really, really enjoyed the writing in this book. There was just something very addicting about it and I don't know what it was. It was so easy to just sit down and read and not get distracted by anything else. It was a wonderful combination of easy to read, fast-paced, detailed without being info-dumpy, and just plain fun. Something I would love to compliment Alex Lidell on is her ability to write an addictive story. I really could not put this down until I finished it and then proceeded to pick up the rest of the series because, like I said above, it was just so good. I loved the plot and the characters so much and I wanted to know what happened next and I think I can say that it's because of the wonderful writing from Alex Lidell!

All in all, I think that Power of Five is a fantastic start to a new-to-me series. The writing is so easy to read and get lost in, the characters are mysterious and fantastical, and the plot is fast-paced and addictive! I'm so excited to continue on with the series because this opening book was such a wonderful surprise for me as a reader. This has definitely gotten me interested in not only more of Alex Lidell's writing but possibly New Adult/reverse harem books in general. If you're looking for a fun introduction to a new-to-you genre of books, then definitely check out Power of Five!

(Just as a side note, my review is 3.5 stars but that is in no way a bad or meh rating for this book. As you can tell by my review, I really enjoyed Power of Five and am actually on book three currently and I really feel like this series gets even better the more you read! So this is a very positive 3.5, teetering on the edge of 3.75.)

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About the Author:

Alex Lidell is the Amazon Breakout Novel Awards finalist author of THE CADET OF TILDOR (Penguin, 2013). She is an avid horseback rider, a (bad) hockey player, and an ice-cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, ALANNA started Alex’s lifelong love for YA fantasy books. Alex is represented by Leigh Feldman of Leigh Feldman Literary. She lives in Washington, DC.

Join Alex's newsletter for news, bonus content and sneak peeks: www.subscribepage.com/TIDES

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Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Read Power of Five for free!

Get Power of Five: Amazon | B&N | TBD
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Tour Schedule:

Week One:
1/4/2019- Under the Book Cover- Review-Power of Five
1/4/2019- Writer of Wrongs- Excerpt- Power of Five

Week Two:
1/7/2019- Loie Dunn- Review-Power of Five
1/7/2019- Texan Holly Reads- Excerpt- Power of Five

1/8/2019- BookHounds- Excerpt- Power of Five
1/8/2019- Two Chicks on Books- Excerpt- Power of Five

1/9/2019- Good Choice Reading- Excerpt-Power of Five
1/9/2019- Adventures Thru Wonderland- Excerpt- Lera of Lunos

1/10/2019- A Gingerly Review- Review-Power of Five

1/11/2019- Burgandy Ice- Excerpt- Lera of Lunos

Week Three:
1/14/2019- Smada's Book Smack- Review- Complete Series
1/14/2019- Books a Plenty Book Reviews- Review- Complete Series

1/15/2019- Reese's Reviews- Review- Complete Series
1/15/2019- Parajunkee- Excerpt- Lera of Lunos

1/16/2019- Book-Keeping- Review- Complete Series
1/16/2019- Jaime's World- Excerpt- Lera of Lunos

1/17/2019- Bookbriefs- Review- Complete Series
1/17/2019- Abooktropolis- Review- Power of Five or Complete Series

1/18/2019- Love in a time of Feminism- Review- Complete Series

1/18/2019- Eli to the nth- Review- Power of Five or Complete Series
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Thank you so much to Rockstar Book Tours for allowing me to take part in this tour! I'm so happy that I was able to discover a new genre and new book series that I really enjoy and I can't wait to continue on with the rest of this series. Don't forget to check out the rest of the awesome bloggers on this book tour and also be sure to enter the giveaway above! Let me know in the comments if you've read Power of Five or the rest of this series and what you thought of it, or if my review helped persuade you to try the first book. Also, be sure to check out Power of Five which you can read for free from January 4th-8th by clicking right here. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you in the next chapter!

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Power of Five by Alex Lidell Series Release Day Blitz!

alex lidell 7:00:00 AM

Hi hello and welcome to the Power of Five series release day blitz! I am so excited that the Power of Five series by Alex Lidell is complete with Lera of Lunos, available now, and that I get to share the news! If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful series by Author Alex Lidell, be sure to check out all the details below. This blitz also includes a giveaway for a $10 Amazon GC, International, A set of the eBooks, International, & a Power of Five Journal, US only, courtesy of Alex and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post. Let's get started!
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Title: Power of Five

Author: Alex Lidell

Pages: 226

Genre: Fantasy/Reverse Harem

Release Date: 04 May 2018
Get it here: Amazon

From Goodreads: "Four elite fae warriors. One mortal female. A magical bond they can’t allow—or resist. Orphaned and sold to a harsh master, Lera’s life is about mucking stalls, avoiding her master’s advances, and steering clear of the mystical forest separating the mortal and fae worlds. Only fools venture into the immortal realms, and only dark rumors come out... Until four powerful fae warriors appear at Lera’s barn. River, Coal, Tye, and Shade have waited a decade for their new fifth to be chosen, the wounds from their quint brother’s loss still raw. But the magic has played a cruel trick, bonding the four immortal warriors to... a female. A mortal female. Distractingly beautiful and dangerously frail, Lera can only be one thing—a mistake. Yet as the males bring Lera back to the fae lands to sever the bond, they discover that she holds more power over their souls than is safe for anyone... especially for Lera herself."

Title: Mistake of Magic
Author: Alex Lidell
Pages: 216
Genre: Fantasy/Reverse Harem
Release Date: 29 June 2018
Get it here: Amazon

From Goodreads: "Three trials stand between Lera and exile. Unless the training kills her first. Quint magic has never chosen a human before, and the Elders Council is convinced Lera is a mistake. When the quint refuses to be cleaved apart, the enraged elders give them a choice: exile from Lunos or demotion to the lowest of trainees. Subject again to the humiliations and deadly trials they endured centuries ago, the males now face a new challenge—training Lera to survive. River, Shade, Coal, and Tye will do whatever it takes to keep Lera safe. But Lera will do whatever she must to keep them together—even if it means putting herself in mortal danger."

Title: Trial of Three
Author: Alex Lidell
Pages: 222
Genre: Fantasy/Reverse Harem
Release Date: 26 September 2018
Get it here: Amazon

From Goodreads: "Four cords of power. Three trials. Two soul-crushing secrets. For Lera, training has never been so hard. With the males’ power roaring in her veins and River’s cold demand that she master the magic before the third trial, something has to give. Worse still, River is keeping something from her. Something about his past and Lunos’s future. For River and Coal, the past must stay buried. Though one male’s nightmare sits on a throne and the other’s hides in his soul, they are equally unprepared for Lera’s startling determination to undress the truth. But when Mors’s Emperor Jawrar makes a play for Lunos, neither Lera’s fledgling magic nor the males’ old wounds can remain untouched—not if their world is to survive."

Title: Lera of Lunos
Author: Alex Lidell
Pages: 192
Genre: Fantasy/Reverse Harem
Release Date: 04 January 2019
Get it here: Amazon

From Goodreads: "Two immortal realms on brink of war. One mortal standing in their way. With the quint squaring off against the king of Slait, Lera is running out of time to tame her feral magic. Worse still, just when the quint must weave together to survive, demons from Tye’s past surface to tear them apart. Demons he fears facing, let alone sharing with Lera. But when Griorgi makes a move that no one expects, throwing River, Shade, and Coal’s lives into question, the clock runs out. Lera and Tye have no choice but to fight their battles within—or risk losing Lunos and their quint forever."

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Click here to read Power of Five for free January 4th-8th!

Excerpt from Lera of Lunos:

“There was rather little incentive to follow the rules at that point,” Tye said simply. “And smuggling pays well.” He swallowed painfully, unable to look at her for this part, to see in her eyes the moment she realized he’d been right to push her away. “Now do you see why I thought you should go with Shade? If it were up to me, Lilac Girl, I would never let you out of my sight for the rest of my life. But it isn’t up to me, especially now that you know the full truth. You deserve better, Lera. You deserve the world.”

Silence trailed at the heels of Tye’s words, the cave around them a capsule of secrets. Each memory shoving itself insistently from its hiding place in the depths of Tye’s mind drove another needle into his soul. Fingers tightening on the rough stone, Tye inhaled the damp, mossy air and awaited judgment.

Several heartbeats passed before Lera rose to her knees, her cool hands gripping Tye’s face. Tipping it to look so deeply into his eyes that Tye felt his soul bared beneath her intense chocolate gaze. Stars, if the girl could make him feel so vulnerable with one look, what could she do with a word? A step? Fear crackled along his veins, but when he tried to pull back, to escape for a bit of air, Lera would not let him.

“I see you, Tye.” Her words rang gently through the cave, stopping Tye’s heart. “And I want you. Not for play. I want you for you, forever.”

Tye’s blood stirred, waking him to Lera’s words. She wanted him.

She wanted him.

The way he’d always longed for her but had been so certain she would never feel in return. He stared into her eyes, hardly daring to believe it.

“And I want forever to start now, Tye,” she said quietly.
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About the Author:

Alex Lidell is the Amazon Breakout Novel Awards finalist author of THE CADET OF TILDOR (Penguin, 2013). She is an avid horseback rider, a (bad) hockey player, and an ice-cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, ALANNA started Alex’s life long love for YA fantasy books. Alex is represented by Leigh Feldman of Leigh Feldman Literary. She lives in Washington, DC.

Join Alex's newsletter for news, bonus content and sneak peeks: www.subscribepage.com/TIDES

Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Power of Five by Alex Lidell Blog Tour!

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