Friday 56 and Book Beginning: Song of Blood & Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles #1) by L. Penelope || Friday 50/50: Favorite/Least Favorite Ships

This is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice

These are the rules:

1. Grab a book, any book.

2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader.

3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.

4. Post it.

5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post.

Please join us over at RoseCityReader every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

I actually read this book about three years ago, but it looks like it's being re-released. Not sure if there are any changes, but it was on NetGalley, so I requested it. I just started it, but so far things are pretty much the same as I remember them the first time I read it. I think I have a not so well done review of it here on my blog, it was before I really got into the swing of reviewing.

Synopsis:

     A treacherous, thrilling, epic fantasy about an outcast drawn into a war between two powerful rulers.

     Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive--an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart.

     Jack's mission behind enemy lines to prove that the Mantle between Elsira and Lagrimar is about to fall nearly cost him his life, but he is saved by the healing Song of a mysterious young woman. Now he must do whatever it takes to save Elsira and its people from the True Father and he needs Jasminda's Earthsong to do it. They escape their vicious captors and together embark on a perilous journey to save Elsira and to uncover the secrets of The Queen Who Sleeps.

     Thrust into a hostile society, Jasminda and Jack must rely on one another even as secrets jeopardize their bond. As an ancient evil gains power, Jasminda races to unlock a mystery that promises salvation.

     The fates of two nations hang in the balance as Jasminda and Jack must choose between love and duty to fulfill their destinies and end the war.

Book Beginning:

Prologue
In the beginning, there was silence.
 The melody of life and breath and heartbeats and change lay locked in a noiseless hush.

My 56:

 When the Master of Sharks met his beloved, he longed to gather all the roses of the world for her.
  His sister, Eagle, warned that tenderness can be a torturous touch.
  -Collected Folktales

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50/50 Friday is a new weekly link-up hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader and Laura @ Blue Eye Books.  Every week they have a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - you share a book that suits each category and link up on the hosts' blogs.

Favorite

Katy and Daemon from the Lux series. They treat each other as equals, they have great banter. I really love that she doesn't let Daemon push her around and even though he tries really hard to be the guy that protects her while she just waits around. He's good because even though when he's trying to protect her and being a little pushy, it's not from a bad place. He just doesn't know how to keep her safe without being a little pushy. He has a kind heart, that he likes to pretend doesn't exist, but his protective nature proves how kind he really is.

Least

Hm... I don't really like Celaena/Aelin with Rowan from Throne of Glass series, didn't really like her with Chaol either for that matter. Both relationships felt a little forced. But neither were/are her first love, and I don't think she's ever really recovered from what happened to Sam.

But with Chaol it seemed like he was more in love with the idea of her, than actually who she was inside and out, and with Rowan it was just weird. I like his character, but I am unsure of how I feel about them being "in love".