Blog Tour and Review: A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty

February 23, 2016 by Jenna | 5 stars, ARC Reviews, Blog Tours, Books, Reviews

Blog Tour and Review: A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty

Blog Tour and Review: A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn MoriartyA Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty
Series: The Colours of Madeleine #3
Published by Pan Australia on February 23rd 2016
Source: Publisher
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Amazon | Book Depository | Publisher | Angus & Robertson
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The Kingdom of Cello is in crisis. Princess Ko's deception has been revealed and the Elite have taken control, placing the Princess, Samuel and Sergio under arrest and ordering their execution. Elliot is being held captive by the Hostiles and Colour storms are raging through the land. The Cello Wind has been silent for months.

Plans are in place to bring the remaining Royals home from the World but then all communication between Cello and the World will cease. That means Madeleine will lose Elliot, forever.

Madeleine and Elliot must solve the mystery of Cello before it is too late.

Today, I’m kicking off the blog tour for Jaclyn Moriarty’s new release, A Tangle of Gold!! I have reviews for the first two books in this series, A Corner of White and The Cracks in the Kingdom. Jaclyn was kind enough to answer some of my questions, but let’s start off with my review of the book.

REVIEW

A Tangle of Gold was, by far, my favourite book of the series. It had everything that you could possibly want from a series finale – action, suspense, comedy, etc. I finished the book feeling thoroughly satisfied and couldn’t have asked for anything more.

This book follows Madeleine, Elliot and Keira as they try to rescue the Royal family and send them through the cracks, back into the Kingdom of Cello. However, nothing really goes to plan and madness ensues. Following the ending of The Cracks in the Kingdom, I thought we’d get to see a lot more of Madeleine and Elliot together, but sadly they’re separated almost immediately in A Tangle of Gold. Instead, we get three separate storylines that eventually converge into one. We follow Madeleine as she remains in the World and tries to do everything she can to help the remaining members of the Royal family. But she’s been getting some strange nosebleeds and hallucinations of historical figures… Meanwhile, Keira is in Cello, trying to coordinate rescues with Madeleine but not everything is going to plan. Elliot has been returned to Cello but must stay in hiding from the WSU. He ends up staying with a group of people who changes his mind about what he’s believed all along.

The three separate storyarcs were presented in alternating parts for the first half of the book, which created a lot of suspense because we wouldn’t find out what happened until the next two parts of the book were over. I really enjoyed this format because it gave me little bits of the puzzle and made the reveal really exciting to read about. There were little twists thrown in here and there, and what I thought was true after reading from one perspective, turned out to be false when I moved on to the next part/perspective. The little twists in the book were so good and they kept me constantly guessing and second-guessing everything. And then the major twist in the book! I did not see it coming at all! It seemed a bit obvious after I had reflected on it, but I didn’t expect it at all in the moment, which is a testament to how engrossed I was in what was happening in the book.

“You’re better than a maple-candy chocolate cheesecake with a cherry-walnut strudel for dessert!”

I absolutely loved the world of Cello in this book. Because I had spent a few months away from the world, reading this third book reminded me of everything I loved in the first two instalments. I loved the names of all of the provinces: Jagged Edge, Nature Strip, etc. I continued to love how passionate the people from the Farms were about baking and food, and how the men were better bakers than the women. I loved how technologically advanced those from Jagged Edge were and how dated the Farms seemed in comparison. It was just wonderful to be back in a world that was so fun and whimsical. I loved the presence of the Colours in this book and how they were used in the plot. And we finally got an explanation for the existence of the Colours, which made me really happy because it was something that I had wanted from the very beginning. And it did not disappoint!

“You said something like, ‘Let’s believe in each other and close our eyes’, and I thought you were crazy, but I did it anyway, and next thing, we were reaching between worlds, and I was holding your hand. To me, it was like I met you right then, like we said everything there was to say. Like all of you was there in the feel of your palm, and the way your fingers wound around mine.”

The long awaited romance between Madeleine and Elliot was so incredibly satisfying. I had been waiting for their relationship to happen since the first book and I’m so glad that everything finally came together. There were also other relationships that I really enjoyed, including an unexpected one between Keira and a Farms boy. I thought it was extremely sweet and wouldn’t mind reading a spin-off about them 🙂 The characters were amazing and had me rooting for them all, though I have to admit that I struggled with Elliot’s character for a large portion of the book. He seemed like a different character to who he had been in the previous books and I just felt a little bit uncomfortable with his character. It all turned out fine and I’m so happy with the ending that all of our characters got.

epilogue

Everything in this book was tied together perfectly and I couldn’t have asked for a better end to the series. It was action-packed and exciting, and full of little surprises that kept me on my toes. I highly recommend The Colours of Madeleine series because it was wonderfully executed and a pleasure to read.

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for providing a review copy.


Q&A WITH JACLYN MORIARTY

1. In the series, there are a lot of scientific theories and references to Isaac Newton that were incorporated into the plot. What was your research process like and was it difficult to create a coherent scientific explanation for the existence of the cracks and how they operate?

I loved researching this book and spent way more time on it than it needed. I talked for hours to a friend who is a physicist. I spent a lot of time standing in the library taking random books from the science shelves, but that was partly because I liked to then take the books to the cafe next door where there is a three-layer shelf of cakes and colourful cups. I read five biographies of Isaac Newton, three different books on the era he lived in, about fifteen books on the science of colour, quantum physics, string theory and black holes. And so on. Most of this was completely irrelevant to the books but I kept thinking that the key to the cracks was on the next page. I really wanted to convince myself that cracks between dimensions are real. And turns out they are.

2. The concept of the Colours was so fascinating to read about! Was there anything in particular that inspired you to come up with this idea of abstract, colourful beings attacking/influencing the citizens of Cello?

Thanks! This trilogy started with the idea of a Kingdom called Cello, and two young people writing letters to each other through a crack between their worlds. I like to draw maps and pictures when I’m planning a book and one day I was sitting in a cafe, with a big notebook and coloured textas, when a friend stopped me to say hello. He asked me what I was working on and I told him about the Kingdom of Cello. ‘Okay, he said. ‘What are your monsters?’ He said, ‘You can’t have a kingdom without monsters.’ I looked down at the coloured textas on the table and decided that the monsters could be colours.

3. Elliot is a baker (which means that he automatically has my heart). What qualities in characters do you look for or enjoy reading about?

I like characters who have unexpected hobbies or jobs or fields of expertise. And I liked the idea of a tough guy, farm-boy athlete like Elliot taking baking very seriously.

4. I thought that the differences between the provinces in Cello were so interesting! Which one would you like to live in?

Tricky. I’d like to go on holiday to all of them. I love snow and ice (and magic) so maybe I’d like to live in the Magical North. (But I also love hot weather and swimming and that kind of weather where everyone’s languid and wandering the streets at midnight wearing sundresses and sandals, so maybe I could split my time between the Magical North and some of the warmer southern provinces.)

5. Most of your books have been standalone or companion novels. Was the process of writing a fantasy trilogy very different from your experiences with your previous novels?

Very different. I spent over a year planning the whole trilogy. I liked that because I like the planning phase when everything seems possible and ideas keep jumping in different directions. But you can get caught in a vortex of planning and it starts to seem impossible ever to write a word of the real text. That happened to me. I had to get really mad at myself in the end.

Thank you to Jaclyn Moriarty for taking the time to answer some of my questions!

 

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Jenna-Sig

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Jenna is an Aussie blogger and reader who loves to indulge in great books and great food. She is a doctor (of philosophy) and can usually be found fangirling about something, devouring delicious food, or taking a nap. You can find her on Twitter @readwithjenna and on Instagram @readingwithjenna.

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21 responses to “Blog Tour and Review: A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty

    • Oh man, the royals in this series are crazy and hilarious. They're not the main characters and you don't really get to meet them until about halfway through the series, but they're amazing. I haven't read Red Queen, but this series is probably a lot more whimsical and light-hearted than Red Queen too.

  1. YAAAS A FIVE STAR!! *fist pump* way to start off the blog tour!

    I hope you have fun at the event you're going when you see this author. 😀 That will be pretty awesome. I should definitely pick this one series up one day.

    • I'm so excited for the event! I've been picking up some of her standalone novels and they're really good too. Can't wait to meet her and chat to her a bit more about her characters and men who can bake 😀

    • It's a really beautifully constructed series with lots of really interesting elements, Joy. And even though the books are quite big, they're actually pretty fast-paced and you can totally fly through them. I hope you can get to A Corner of White real soon!

    • YAY! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did (and if you don't enjoy the first book, trust me that the final book is amazing and completely worth the struggle).

  2. I've been wanting to read this series for a while now and I'm so glad to hear that this series ended on a high note. I love the sound of the characters and of course, yay for the romance finally happening.
    I'll be sure to check it out now.
    Lovely review, Jenna!
    My recent post Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas

    • It ended on such a high! It's definitely a series that you grow to love more and more as it progresses. I enjoyed the first two books but they weren't like WOW. This last book though… it blew my mind! I hope you give this series a go, Nick! Keen to hear what you think of them.

  3. The concept behind Cello and the different kingdoms sounds amazing, as does the slow burn romance here! It's so exciting when a series wraps up so well, building upon everything that happened in the previous books. So glad to hear you enjoyed the series Jenna, and great interview as well! Colours as monsters is definitely interesting.

    • Hehe, I'm so glad that you sent this my way. It's definitely a series that got better and better. I shall send them all back to you so that you can enjoy them too.

  4. irena_bookdustmagic

    It's so great to hear this one was your favorite. I have the first two books but haven't read them yet.
    Although, I can't help but comment on this: Why, oh why would they change the cover design?? JUst, why??
    My recent post Movie Monday: House of Versace

    • I was a bit annoyed about the cover change as well but I think the new covers are super pretty! I have a bland ARC cover for book 3 so I'm just going to replace all three books in the new covers! They'll definitely be the most colourful books I own 😀

  5. Rachel Lightwood

    Gah, I so need to read this series so bad. I've heard lots of good things about it because of this third one. I think I own the first oen so hopefully I"ll get to it soon. Great review, Jenna!

    • You should totally jump in and check it out! It has a really delightful and interesting world and the more that you read about it, the more you'll love it! They're pretty quick to read as well, despite the size of them!

    • I'm also way to dumb to understand all the science but it was super interesting and I didn't feel that lost when reading about it!! I loved this book so much! It was just amazing and delightful and all the good things!

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