Lord of the White Hell, Book 2 (The Cadeleonian Series, #2) in A Shot of Ginn

Jul 14, 2017 Rosa rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, books, read-in-2017

The ending was bittersweet but suits the story perfectly fine. These two books has been good. The second one is darker, so if you are looking for a light reading (not that the first one was "light" by any means), this is not for you. There's no school life here, but dark paths ahead. As the story develops you know there's no going back from there and it wouldn't be credible if the book had finished in another way.
The worldbuilding like in the other book is amazing. In the first one we get to kno ...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Katharina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: suspense, favourites, fantasy

Lord of the White Hell is the second series by Ginn Hale that I've read - although it's probably fairer to say that it's not really a series, just one book separated in two parts. The first one was the Rifter (First book: The Shattered Gates) - and that was a fantasy epic that trumped almost any other fantasy epic I've ever read, and I've read quite a few of them. At the very least it's in my top 5 of favourite fantasy books ever.

I have to say right away that Lord of the White Hell did not reach Lord of the White Hell is the second series by Ginn Hale that I've read - although it's probably fairer to say that it's not really a series, just one book separated in two parts. The first one was the Rifter (First book: The Shattered Gates) - and that was a fantasy epic that trumped almost any other fantasy epic I've ever read, and I've read quite a few of them. At the very least it's in my top 5 of favourite fantasy books ever.

I have to say right away that Lord of the White Hell did not reach the (almost absurd) heights of the Rifter for me. However, that doesn't mean I didn't like this book - the absolute opposite really, it was bloody damn brilliant. Ginn Hale is a master of fantastical world-building and she shows that again here. Lord of the White Hell combines elements of steampunk, mystery, and romance with pretty classic fantasy material and the outcome is freaking fantastic.

I loved Kiram and Javier, their personalities, their idiosyncrasies, their individual likes and dislikes. I loved them apart and I loved them together. I loved the other characters as well and how slowly true friends crystallised out of strangers.
The world building was fantastic and the different cultures and customs were described in loving detail. Moreover, despite the complexity of the whole story, it was still firmly told only from Kiram's perspective which made it more personal and strengthened the bond between Kiram and the reader, but it must have been that much harder to write. I really enjoyed that!

If I really felt like nagging, then these are the points I would focus on: 1. The young age of Kiram and Javier threw me off a little bit, although I have to admit that it makes sense story-wise. 2. I had my own idea of the culprit in this story pretty early on (view spoiler).

However, these points aren't enough for me to downgrade my rating, because I just like the books way too much. Ginn Hale's writing style and vivid world descriptions are definitely partly to blame for that!

I recommend this book to everyone not completely averse to fantasy stories! ...more

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Nov 04, 2014 Arch Bala rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-stars, favorites, on-top, omg, teacher, not-here, supernatural

Picking up after the tournament that was the culmination of the first book in the series and Kiram was allowed to stay in Sagrada Academy given that Javier will look after his welfare. There are so many things that happened in this book but the main highlight for me was Kiram's homecoming in Anacleto where we get to see more of his family and the ways of where Kiram grew up. Here, Javier also has to make a very difficult decision that could change everything in his life.

Oh, and I so loved that ...more

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