Category: Fantasy

Categories
Fantasy Romance

The Girl the Sea Gave Back

By Adrienne Young, Pub date September 3, 2019.

3 Stars. Best Enjoyed at Night by Firelight

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy in exchange for a fair and honest review–I had seriously been looking forward to this one and I could not wait. I absolutely loved Adrienne Young’s Sky in the Deep, so when I found out she was writing another in the same universe, I was stoked (to put it mildly).

The Girl the Sea Gave Back takes place 10 years after Sky in the Deep and focuses mainly on two people. The first is Halvard, the next chief in line to rule the Nādhir, the new tribe formed after the events in the previous book. The second is Tova, a young woman and Truthtongue (a type of seer) who washed up on the shores of a rival tribe, the Svell, to live in hostility and isolation outside of the chief’s village and protected only thinly by Jorrund, the Svell’s Tala (priest) and the brusque warrior, Gunther.

When the Svell chief’s brother decides to take it upon himself to enact war against the Nadhir against the wishes of the chief, they decide to ask the gods how to proceed. Hated by the Svell and seen only as a tool of inquiry into the future, Tova is brought in to cast her stones to and help determine what waging this war against the Nādhir would mean for them. Her cast reveals a dark future for the Svell if they decide to continue down this path…and the stones never lie. But will this prophecy be enough to stop the Svell from marching into Nadhir territory?

The book bounces not only jarringly between Halvard and Tova, but also back and forth in time. For roughly half the book, each alternating perspective rehashes what was shown in the last perspective, only from a different angle. Unfortunately, this drag was a huge downfall for the book. Eventually, it gets better and there is a ton of great information, but the best parts come far too late for this reader. There is also a massive cliffhanger that very clearly establishes this book as the first in a series. Given that, it does set a pretty strong precedence for the series itself. Unfortunately, for me, it wasn’t great as a standalone given all of the good stuff was concentrated near the end and although we get the story on Tova’s origins, we are left with massive and overarching questions.

Honestly, I had really been looking forward to this after reading Young’s debut. Although it was a bit of a let-down for me, that does not in any way mean that I will not be strongly anticipating the next book, nor that I do not recommend reading ALL OF HER WORK. Young is a very talented author and has definitely left me with some burning questions and has set us up for what I can only conclude will be a fantastic sequel.

Categories
Fantasy

The Blacksmith Queen

By G.A. Aiken. Pub Date August 27, 2019.

4 Stars. Best enjoyed when you need an adventure.

The Blacksmith Queen begins with a battle between brothers bent on slaying one another over the throne of their father. It’s a rather confusing, bloody scene with people getting slaughtered left and right. In the confusion, we find out that the kingdom’s witches, who are usually the ones to name the next king, have handed down an unlikely prophecy that states that the land will not be ruled by a king, but a queen. Not just any queen, but a peasant queen. Naturally, the brothers find it necessary to suss out the identity of this queen so that they can eliminate this threat to the throne that they are so willing to kill so many others for.

Of course, they think just because she’s a peasant it’s going to be easy. Spoiler Alert: it’s not. Especially not with Keeley, a talented, strong blacksmith and her scrappy family acting as a blockade to their success.

Without giving too much away–because there are plenty of unexpected twists and it would be SO EASY to spoil the heck out of this for you–there is a fantastic journey through Amichai lands (the mountainous area and home of dwarves, elves, centaurs, and barbarians which shares a border with the Hill Lands of the violent Old King), a bunch of fun characters and hilarity, as well as some visceral betrayal.

At first, I found it kind of hard to get into. I’m not usually into changing POVs, especially not ones that rapidly change like they did in this one which is why I gave it 3 stars initially, but I had to change that because the more I think about how much fun I had reading it, the less I felt confident that 3 was enough. The story gets so good that it starts to flow. Although I didn’t feel that happening until about 30% into it, it was worth sticking with it even with the few times when it seemed like editing was the last thought on the author’s mind. After that point I honestly could have read it in one sitting had I been given the chance. I literally laughed out loud a couple of times at some of the characters, like Keeley’s professional fighter cousin Keran, who was all about a good time and would have been 100% exasperating to actually travel with on this momentous adventure, but was definitely a point of comic relief for the reader. Plus, Kelley is so strong, good natured, and optimistic that I just wanted her to succeed in all of the things she did, which included the flirtations with the broody Caid. Also, the part with the dwarves? So great.

If you enjoy high fantasy, I strongly suggest you pick this one up. I can’t wait for the next book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Categories
Adventure Fantasy Romance

Song of the Abyss

By Makiia Lucier, Pub Date August 27, 2019.

3.5 Stars. Best enjoyed on a beach or on a boat and with a sense of adventure.

I’d like to preface this review by stating that although this book is a sequel t0 the Tower of Winds, it is not necessary to read the first book prior to this one. Although the del Marians often elude to events that happened in the first book, the storytelling in this one is not dependent on that and the story does truly stand on its own. Reyna is a mapmaker for the kingdom of St. John del Mar. During one of her adventures, her ship is overtaken by a mysterious group led by a distinctive leader with an interesting sword topped by a chrysanthemum. The men aboard her ship, seemingly in a trance, transfer themselves to the ships of the ruffians that had overtaken them and Reyna escapes into the unforgiving sea. She finds her way to the kingdom of Lunes where she meets a handsome stranger, Levi. This young man invariably turns out to be a Lunesian prince, and he at first distrusts this strange girl who washed up in his harbor and tries to hold her for questioning. After a small coup, she escapes her hospitable captors and returns to St. John del Mar where she puzzles out who could have possibly taken her crew. While home, Lord Elias and her childhood friend, Jaime–two very important people in Reyna’s life–take a ship of their own to investigate the maritime kidnappers…and fail to return. It is up to Reyna to band together with Prince Levi, whose own brother, Asher, also disappears while on his way back to Lunes. They must search for their lost loved ones in the distant, isolated, and lush kingdom that was once thought to be legend, and figure out what this leader did with the people they care about before they are lost forever.

Overall, Song of the Abyss was pretty good. The first half of it is where most of my issues stem from, and it’s mostly just because it’s super slow up until Levi and Reyna travel. I admittedly struggled to get into it because it seemed like there was a lot of people judging Reyna as only being ‘pretty’ and not recognizing her value as a scholar. Although this is kind of how the world worked in any other time setting, it was nonetheless a bit of a distraction from the adventure itself. There was also a little bit of insta-love, will they/won’t they, which I can take or leave that could have been written better. Maybe that’s a little nitpick-y, but I just wasn’t into it.

However, the last half of the book really started to amp up and the totality of the story was completely redeemed for me, starting with the maelstrom, which caught my attention and made me snap to attention and took my imagination for a ride. The remainder of the book took place in a once-mythical kingdom and their culture, which seemed to be a mix of Egyptian, Ancient Chinese, and Ancient Central American cultures. This is where palace intrigue, and world building sunk its teeth into me and I couldn’t put the book down until I was done.

The world, the characters, and the various locations are all described in detail and the main characters are fleshed out nicely. If you need to top off your summer reading list, I recommend this satisfying fantasy that will take you on an interesting adventure.

Thank you to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Categories
Children's Books Fantasy Historical Fiction

Fledgling: Sorcery and Society Book 2

By Molly Harper

4 Stars, best with a cup of tea and a sense of wonder.

Fledgling is the second book in the Changeling series by Molly Harper and tackles Sarah Smith Cassandra Reed’s second year at Miss Castwell’s Institute for the Magical Instruction of Young Ladies in an alternative Victorian England where the magical ruling class, or the Guardians, rule the non-magical servant class, or the Snipes. Although I did not have the chance to read and review the first book in the series, I was nonetheless sucked into this book and it gave me enough background to feel like I could understand the world that Harper built within the confines of the previous story.

Cassandra Reed, known by only her closest confidants for who she really is, Sarah Smith, is back at Miss Castwell’s navigating the society in which she has been thrust. Between her duties as a student, the Translator (the chosen keeper of the Mother Book, a tome that contains all of the history of the magical world), a new member of Guardian society, and what looks like the start of a courtship between her and Gavin McCray, her plate is overflowing and her secret mission to find more Changelings like herself has to take the shelf for the time being–something that the Mother Book itself resents. However, when the girls decide to try a divination spell during their study group, Cassandra is hit with a horrible vision of things to come if she isn’t able to find the other Changelings she is supposed to be looking for. Cassandra and her best friends Ivy and Alicia take it upon themselves to search out the rumored changeling school situated in Scotland where Alicia’s family summers. It’s a secret and dangerous mission, but the girls are running out of time, and if the visions are correct, the very world they know depends on them.

I really enjoyed this book a ton. It reminded me of Harry Potter meets A Great and Terrible Beauty. I love stories that are set in Victorian England and I also love stories involving magic. Although this is for a younger group of readers, it really was a fantastic read for any age and I have every intention of going back and reading the first. It had me from get-go. There is also a classist political element to it that I thought was an interesting take, namely the Snipes vs Guardians and the balance on their relationship, and also how Cassandra wanted to find a way to blur the lines and make life better for both sides.

Fledgling was a great book and I highly recommend you pick up a copy for that preteen in your life.

Thank you Netgalley & NYLA for an advanced copy in exchange for a fair & honest review!

Categories
Fantasy Survival

The Grace Year

By Kim Liggett, Pub Date Oct 9, 2019

5 Stars. Best enjoyed with a handful of berries and clean glass of water

I. AM. BLOWN. AWAY. Don’t let the pink cover fool you like it did me at first, although it’s a perfect representation of the world that Liggett built: pink, pretty, but also with a very gritty vibe. Things aren’t always what they seem.

I finished this book at 4 am yesterday and it’s been invading my dreams and thoughts ever since. Other reviewers have said that it’s a cross between Handmaid’s Tale and Lord of the Flies, and I agree, but it’s also got a healthy dose of MK Ultra and survival horror, but it also fully feels like this could happen in our world and this preys on the fears of many women these days–which makes this a wild and visceral experience. I’m a complete sucker for survival horror.

Tierney is 16. In our world, that means sweet 16 birthday parties, getting to drive, and finding freedom. In Tierney’s world, in ‘the county’, that means becoming a women in a society where women are seen as dangerous and only have a chance at few jobs within society: as a wife, as a servant, or as a laborer, working in factories or the fields. Otherwise, they are dispelled into the Outskirts to work a sex workers. Women aren’t allowed to wear their hair down, or dress immodestly, gossip, or even dream. It doesn’t help that society and the magic of the Grace Year have seemingly pitted them all against one another.

During their 16th year, they are sent to ‘the encampment;’, an unforgiving fenced-in island far in the woods away from the county, to dispel the magic that crawls under their skin and makes them irresistible to men. If you come back and haven’t dispelled your magic, it means death. They call this the ‘grace year’. And the grace year is like fight club: You don’t talk about it. You don’t talk about what happens there, and no one escapes without scars.

Tierney just wants to get through her grace year. She’s always rebelled in small ways against the way things are, and the last thing she wants is to become a wife. She’d rather work in the fields, where she can reach into the dirt and do something real. But even the best laid plans often go awry, and Tierney finds herself going into the grace year with a target on her back, as if avoiding starvation and the poachers, sons of the Outskirts women that hunt grace year girls down to carve up their bodies to sell back to the county in bottles–for the ‘magic’, of course–wasn’t enough.

If it seems like there’s a lot going on in this book, there is. The world building is amazing and the story is absolutely enrapturing. I went through the entire gamut of emotions with this one and when I started reading, I could not stop. I had to know if my hunches were correct. I had to know if they would make it out alive. I had to know how this would end, but I also was left wanting more.

I think when the release date hits and more people have the chance to read this, I will most likely have to post more. There is so much to say about this story, but I don’t want to give too much away. All I will say is that we have power and we need to start using it.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for a fair review ❤

Categories
Fantasy Graphic Novels

Sparrowhawk: A Graphic Novel of Faerie (Originally Released in 5 Installments)

https://www.boom-studios.com/2018/09/07/sparrowhawk-1-first-look/

Written by Deliah S. Dawson, Illustrations by Matias Basla

3.5 stars. Best Enjoyed on an empty stomach and FAR from a mirror.

I had the opportunity to get one of my Netgalley wishes answered. Thanks to Boom Studios and Netgalley for providing me an advanced copy of the compendium to be released on 8/20/19 in exchange for a fair review.

Sparrowhawk is a collection of comics-come-graphic novel detailing a young woman’s fall into faerie and the subsequent journey she had to take to escape it and save her own world from the Unseelie Queen who took her place. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this story is all pictures and color, portraying much, betraying little.

Artemisia is the adopted mixed race daughter in a family in dire straights. Although her father and sister love her, her stepmother is a complete pill, wishing to marry her off to her deceased older sister’s betrothed in order to save the family. If Artemisia disagrees, her stepmother has threatened to marry her beloved younger sister, Caroline, to a wealthy elderly Baron. However, before Artemisia can make a choice, the Unseelie Queen, bent on destroying the world (starting with Victorian England), reaches through the mirror and switches places with her.

https://www.boom-studios.com/2018/09/07/sparrowhawk-1-first-look/

Artemisia, now stuck in faerie with little knowledge on how to get out, is greeted by Crispin, an abomination created by the evil Unseelie queen. Crispin offers to strike a deal with Artemisia: to help her through faerie and get back home in exchange for her most treasured memory. Anyone who knows anything about faerie or faerie lore also knows how terrible of an idea this is, but Artemisia agrees. Crispin, in turn, tells her exactly what she needs to do to get out:

Grow Stronger. By Killing.

But she better hurry, because the Wild Hunt is on her trail.

https://www.boom-studios.com/2018/10/11/your-first-look-at-sparrowhawk-2-from-delilah-s-dawson-and-matias-basla/

During her journey, she struggles to remember the important memory she gave away to Crispin in exchange for guidance. Artemisia must kill other faeries in order to get back to her own world while also trying to maintain some semblance of her humanity. Along the way they meet an Unseelie prince who abhors the evil world his mother has created and detests that Artemisia must kill to save her own, and Dean, a giant pig like monster who, at times, is reminiscent of Falcore from Never-ending Story.

I enjoyed the illustrations. The comic covers which were peppered throughout the compendium were illustrated by Miguel Mercado and absolutely enhanced the overall story. The story itself at times felt a little disjointed, but that’s to be expected when it comes to graphic novels about faerie, especially given that they were originally released in individual sections, and there was a lot of ground to cover so you really need to rely on the illustrations to guide those missing pieces into place. There were some dream sequences that sometimes felt oddly situated and I didn’t really understand the rhythm of them until literally the last one, which was definitely jarring, but then I got that they were referencing the memory she had lost and does not regain until the end. But I won’t spoil it, you’ll need to pick this one up for yourself.

Overall, although I was expecting more and it felt a little shallow during the first read through the more I sat with it the better it got. It was a fun read and I think it’s well worth the time spent. I have a feeling I’m going to be dreaming in lime green, teal, and purple for awhile.

https://www.boom-studios.com/2018/10/11/your-first-look-at-sparrowhawk-2-from-delilah-s-dawson-and-matias-basla/
Categories
Fantasy Romance

Echo North (& East/West)

A Review of Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer

4 Stars. Best enjoyed wrapped in a blanket thinking of all that snow!

I’m obsessed with fairy tales. Not just any fairy tales, but the kind where the author rehashes the old tropes and injects some steroids into the often meek heroines that plague the originals, creating a stronger & smarter female lead. There are very few fairy tales where this doesn’t need to happen, and most mainstream classic Disney-type stories are often guilty of containing weaker protagonists.

However, these are the stories that act as the gateway drug into the world of the folkloric fiction found in anthologies containing the likes of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. It was in one of these anthologies where I found one of my absolute favorite fairy tales, East of the Sun, West of the Moon. When I see new fiction which claims to take its basis off of this story, I jump on it. Echo North was one that made such claims–and delivered quite well.

Our protagonist, Echo, is a sympathetic character who has been deemed as ‘lesser’ and ‘cursed’ by the people in her village because of the horrific scarring on her face caused by a white wolf whom she was trying to save from a trap when she was a mere child. This act of compassion led basically to social exile. However, she never lost the kindness in her heart or her compassionate nature, even when the only people in the village who looked at her as a person were her father and brother. Her new stepmother, whom her father brings home, seems revolted by Echo. Echo decides to try to leave for university in the nearest city, an endeavor which is sufficiently roadblocked by this vile woman whom has quickly driven her once somewhat prosperous father into poverty. In order to try to improve their conditions, her father ventures out to sell his most prized possessions just to keep them fed and housed. Many months pass without his return.

Echo’s father goes missing, but the Wolf returns.

The Wolf gives Echo a choice: She can let her father die, or she can save him in exchange for spending one year with him in a house in the middle of a deadly forest where the rooms must be kept sewn to the rest of the house. She chooses to save her father.

In going with the wolf and staying in the house for one year, she must follow two simple rules: don’t open the door at night, no matter what is heard, and do not light the lamp.

The bulk of the story follows East/West pretty well, but the ending–Oh The Glorious Ending. It absolutely took me into a brand new place. Although I was able to suss out a lot of the midway plot points, the end was so far beyond what I could have guessed it would be and it was so very beautiful and completely fulfilling in its unpredictability. Naturally, some of the magic revolves around the big ‘L’ word.

“What is the oldest magic?” “Love. That is what created the universe, and that is what will destroy it, in the end. Threads of old magic, binding the world together.”

The overall imagery and well thought out protagonist help to keep the story going at a fair clip, even though there is a slight slow down in the plot, but that’s to be expected as she is staying in the house for a year. She almost makes that full year, too…it if not for [spoiler] the Wolf Queen and her meddling. But Echo doesn’t give up, despite the trials she endures in her life and the trials she must endure to save the boy hidden within the wolf, no–she persists.

That’s my favorite part.

Categories
Fantasy Romance

With a Thunderous ROAR

REVIEW OF ROAR (STORM HEARTS #1) BY CORA CORMACK

3.5 Stars. Best enjoyed in a thunderstorm.

Aurora Pavan is princess and heir to the throne of Pavan, Stormling kingdom, in a completely new world, Caelira, where storms move and destroy on instinct and the only way to stop them is by stealing their hearts. Stormling royals are known to be the only people in Caelira who are capable of ripping the hearts from the storms. This makes the the only barrier keeping humans safe from these disastrous and destructive forces.

Raised with grace, dignity, and diplomacy, the highly intelligent princess seems primed to take the throne when it is her time….except that Aurora is strangely void of the very ability to control storms that makes her an asset to Pavan. The Queen and Aurora have kept this secret for as long as they could to avoid risking the loss of their kingdom. However, As the sole heir, they can only keep this weakness hidden for so long.

The Queen arranges a marriage for Aurora to prince Cassius of Locke, a Stormling who is well versed in bringing storms to their knees. At first, it seems like the perfect match, but the mood quickly sours when Aurora finds out that Cassius has ulterior motives. Desperate to find out what he’s up to, she follows Prince Cassius in the dead of night to a hidden black market in the heart if the city. She gets more than she bargained for when she runs into a handsome and enigmatic Storm Hunter name Locke. Because of this encounter, Aurora discovers that Storm Hunters are able to control storms.

People who aren’t born Stormlings.

Aurora disguises herself as a girl named Roar and strikes out on her own, joining Locke’s band of misfit Hunters. She discovers that there is more magic in the world than she knew, and slowly the gilt of her world chips away. She sees the government corruption that has taken over the world outside her ivory tower, the people put in danger by politics, and is all the more determined to gain storm magic so she can take her rightful place as Queen and right the wrongs that have been done to the citizens of not only Pavan but all of Caelira.

Okay, so first things first, the story grabbed me from the beginning and shook me into the story, whispering ALL the promises. The start was amazing, although the characterization of Rora was a little surface-y, but that makes sense given that she was pretty much kept from society with very little consistent human interaction so as to not tip off the people around her that she was without the powers that they expected would keep them safe when she took the throne. However, she gets more and more fleshed out as the story goes on, and her determination to learn and adapt to life in the wilds with the storm hunters makes you really want to root for her. All other characters felt a lot more ‘there’. I could picture Jinx, Bait, Sly, and the rest of the Storm Hunter crew just perfectly–they were all a pretty unique and motley crew. It would have been hilarious if there was a character called Sixx…but alas, no classic rock band references in sight (yet).

It was so interesting seeing how the characters interacted. In all honestly, though, the reason I left one or two stars off was mostly because of the middle of the book. It slowed down to a point where I felt like I was just slogging through and the new plot points were just interesting enough to keep my inner detective curious, like her strong emotional reaction to the storms, and the occasional dip into the mind of an unknown enemy who is hatching a nefarious scheme–and whose soul seems to sense Aurora’s! However, if you just keep reading, it gets so incredibly amazing near the end. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. There are so many new things that are revealed, but so few pages left that you just know that this was only the beginning.

**Spoiler**The romance with Locke left something to be desired, although it is very clear that they go well together (it didn’t hurt that all I could picture was a longer haired version of Sam Winchester). I think maybe it’s because he never really knows who she is until near the end, and the feelings seem so surface and they purposely bait each other, with Roar getting genuinely mad but not really mad? I don’t know, it doesn’t feel deep enough for me. Cassius is a bit arrogant, but also super cunning, and his trying to play his cards close to his chest. I know this romance option is so problematic from minute one, but he also has some back story that makes me feel that all he really wants is to rule the kingdom with Aurora by his side and also to figure out a way to brush his family off. Even if it’s not love, there’s definitely some delicious lust brewing in there, and I kind of just want him to be okay? Then there’s the third option–the one I’m most curious about, the one we haven’t actually seen yet, and he’s pure evil, but I have a feeling the StormLord is going to the be Yang to Roar’s Yin.

IN conclusion, I’m super excited for the next book. I feel like it’s going to get the true start of the Storm Hearts saga/trilogy and I can’t wait until I get the chance to devour it!