Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers #2) by Brenda Drake | Blog Tour | Book Review

Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers #2)

by Brenda Drake

Publication Date: February 7, 2017

Publisher:  Entangled Teen

Being a Sentinel isn’t all fairy tales and secret gardens.

Sure, jumping through books into the world’s most beautiful libraries to protect humans from mystical creatures is awesome. No one knows that better than Gia Kearns, but she could do without the part where people are always trying to kill her. Oh, and the fact that Pop and her had to move away from her friends and life as she knew it.

And if that isn’t enough, her boyfriend, Arik, is acting strangely. Like, maybe she should be calling him “ex,” since he’s so into another girl. But she doesn’t have time to be mad or even jealous, because someone has to save the world from the upcoming apocalypse, and it looks like that’s going to be Gia.

Maybe. If she survives.

The adventures of Gia continues or the library-hopping resumes. The latter is what I really liked about this story. A tour of the beautiful and historic libraries of the world.

The search for the seven Chiave or keys is on. Gia needs to find them all before the evil wizard Conemar beats her to it and releases the monster.

Wow! A lot of things happened in this second installment. Gia has to go through an emotional roller-coaster caused by love. She discovered a lot of secrets. Forged new relationships and met long-lost relations. This book has a lot of betrayals, heartaches, changing alliances and unexpected turns. Be ready for the surprises of your life.

This book is more intense than the first one. If you enjoyed and got carried away by the Thief of Lies, this will surely have you in its claws. I was buried deep in the story. I just can't let it go until I reach the last word on the last page. The events were so undeniably gripping and engaging. It was almost like I forgot to breathe with the energy, excitement, emotion and tension. There is no way the story will allow you to leave until you embark on the conclusion.

I was really attuned to Gia's heartache. Of all people, the one person she trusted the most deserted and betrayed her. Tsk...tsk...I wanted to smack the guy for hurting her. And then, there's confusion...Ah, I don't know what to make of it. I don't know who to root for. How can you choose between two very gorgeous and fierce guys? But then, I think I knew Arik better so I'm kind of leaning into his team. I am not so sure, though. I do love them together. 

I give this book 5/5 skeleton keys. There's just no letting up on the intensity of what's going on in this story. This will leave you breathless until the very end. There is no rest for the wicked indeed. I can't imagine what the rest of the series will look like. I think I will have to make sure I have water and my inhaler handy. There is no telling what the rest of the adventures will be like. If this book is an indication, well, I need to be prepared to loose my mind.

The damage was done. Just as a river couldn't change its course, I couldn't change the direction my heart was heading.

- Brenda Drake, Guardian of Secrets - 

Thank you again, Brenda Drake, Chapter by Chapter and Netgalley for the ARC.

Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound.

Jumping into some of the world's most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik's world and her own, before both are destroyed.

My review of Thief of Lies.

Brenda Drake is a New York Times bestselling author of Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers #1), Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers #2), Touching Fate (Fated Series #1), and Cursing Fate (Fated Series #2). She grew up the youngest of three children, an Air Force brat, and the continual new kid at school. She hosts workshops and contests for writers such as Pitch Wars and Pitch Madness on her blog, and holds Twitter pitch parties on the hashtag, #PitMad. When she’s not writing or hanging out with her family, she haunts libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops, or reads someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).

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Thief of Lies (Library Jumbers #1) by Brenda Drake | A Book Review

This book just reminded me how awesome it is to hang out in libraries. I remember I just made my bookworm bucket list last month. Most of the items there were to visit famous and beautiful libraries around the world. And this book just made that bucket list right on the dot.

If I could have a superpower or any powers at all it would be a book jumper. I want it for two things. One is to just open a book and jump right into the place and era that was in the book. It would be like a no-expense-paid-time-travel. I have gotten this idea from Fleur Camacho's The Last Seeker. The other one is to jump from one library to another through a book gateway which was what this book is about. Isn't that power amazing or is it amazing?

Yes, this story is about a group of people who have magical powers and can jump from one library to another. This group includes wizards, mythical creatures, faeries, witches, and magical knights called sentinels. The main character in this story, Gia, is a lost sentinel. She accidentally finds out about her true heritage by reading an Italian praise and got transported into another library through a book. 

The libraries in this book are not at all that quiet because these are where the fights and all the interesting happenings are. And how great it would be to meet a cute guy right in the library? I would want that to happen to me, too. Well, lucky for Gia, that was how she met Arik. I want her and Arik together. I was disappointed and I felt bad when someone got in between these two. 

It felt like I have been to these famous libraries mentioned in this book. It just strengthened my desire to visit them. Someday. It would be awesome if in real life I could just jump from one library to the next. No need for passports, visas and plane tickets. No need for accommodations too since I could just go back home within the day or sleep in the library. It's just like going to the library, only it's not the nearest library in the area but a library somewhere in the world. Bad ass, right?

I love that the story is set in Boston. I have been to Boston and it's full of history. I remember we took the Boston Freedom Trail walk and visited famous historical sites. I have been to the Granary Burying Ground, a cemetery mentioned in this book. The one that was right next to the library. I may have passed the Boston Athenaeum when we were there. I know the Boston Commons and the Quincy Market. I was reliving my Boston experience while reading this book. I had rained also when I was there and I had to trudge thru the pouring rain with only my hooded jacket as protection.

I think open sesame is out. The new magic word is aprire la porta. I think this book just confirmed that those who love to read are kick ass. I am pretty sure, the author also wished she could be a library jumper.

I give the book 5/5 open books ready for the next jump. I had a great time jumping from the library in Boston to England, to France, and in Russia. How I wish it could also be in real life. I can't wait to continue this adventure in the next book. If library jumping were a real job, I would want to be a professional and an expert in it. Thank you, Brenda Drake, for this amazing book. You just wrote the story which every bookworm would want to be the hero.

Have your noticed the girl in the cover looks like Aria (Lucy Hale) in Pretty Little Liars? 

... you can love many people.. Love isn't jealous.

- Brenda Drake, Thief of Lies - 

Thank you, MaryAnn of Chapter by Chapter and Netgalley for the review copy.