Category: Young Adult

Categories
audiobooks Fantasy Young Adult

Andy Serkis reads The Hobbit (The Hero’s Journey)

I am long past overdue for a LOTR reread. With the new narration on Audible Plus, it is time!

I could make The Hobbit one of my Struggling Through the Classics series but it’s too much work to organize it. Would anyone read it?

I could talk about themes and what not but that just seems silly since I’m adding nothing new to the canon. I also think it’s impossible to discuss the book in only a few paragraphs…but maybe at some point.

What I really want to do is just say that Andy Serkis had FAR too much fun with the audiobook and everyone should listen to it. He belts out songs, speaks to the reader, screams out WHAT’S IN IT’S POCKETSSESSSSS 🤣 like it’s impossible not to tell that he enjoyed every second of the narration.

I’ve listened to literally hundreds of audiobooks and never heard anything like this performance and I would recommend it to anyone who is even casually interested in reading or re-reading The Hobbit.

I read the LOTR probably 20 years ago and had all but forgotten the books. The movies were bad ass though. What I really forgot and was most surprised by is how YOUNG the book reads. It feels like sitting a couple of 8-10 year olds down at storytime, which makes sense because Tolkien wrote the book for his kids. But if you don’t remember the fact that it’s literally a children’s book, it’s a bit jarring at first after envisioning the movies 😅

That also said, it fits firmly into the comfort reads of Wyrd & Wonder this year. Despite some light fantasy violence and mentions that people died, the book is mild in tone and content.

Also today happens to be the Hero’s Journey prompt for W&W and The Hobbit practically wrote the formula for this fantasy genre. There’s a call to adventure, maybe a refusal at first, then an acceptance, they leave, things happen, hero grows, hero peaks, hero comes home, and aftermath. (More or less).

What I really like is that Bilbo isn’t a typical hero, but a short fat guy in his fifties 🤣

Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!” So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter

I feel like that’s the point where he really decided to be a hero, because after he came out of those caves he was a lot bolder with the dwarves too!

There is the note that not typically found in The Hero’s Journey, Bilbo did kind of sort of betray the dwarves just a bit but I don’t think he did it in a malicious way, and they made up eventually

All in All, this is:

-A comfort read. A comfort listen. A heroes journey. Lot’s of fun. A fantasy genre staple.

I’m glad I decided to reread it for Wyrd & Wonder this month!

The Orange Dragon image by Elena Zakharchuk
Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

Book Review: The Left-handed Booksellers of London

It’s Wyrd & Wonder time and I finally finished my first fantasy book to talk about!

I loved The Old Kingdom series so much that I figured this book was a safe bet for a comfort read. Garth Nix at least used to be a great author, but both Angel Mage and The Left-Handed Booksellers of London seems to fall much shorter than his earlier fantasy.

Let’s take a quick look at the book for any W&W people not familiar, then I’ll share my thoughts

Bookish Quick Facts

  • Title: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
  • Series: Left-Handed Booksellers of London #1
  • Author: Garth Nix
  • Published: Katherine Regen Books, 2020
  • Length: 416 pages
  • Recommended: ⭐⭐⭐ for YA/urban fantasy fans

Here’s the Synopsis

A girl’s quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world.

In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn’t get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.

Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops….

-from Amazon

My Thoughts

I am just not a huge fan of urban fantasy and just could not get into this one despite the awesome premise. It’s hard to immerse into the lore when it’s all so scattered and numerous but also seems unconnected. Wolf spirits? Lake spirits? Big mountain spirits? Fay, goblins, big overlords, then the booksellers with some totally separate magic – but what’s the link between it all?

I liked the grandmothers and the booksellers’ powers themselves but like where do the abilities even come from? What’s the point of magical booksellers if their powers frankly don’t have anything to do with books? Maybe they just like to monitor how much of their real life is coming into fantasy books? I liked the fighters (left handed) vs the more general-magic inclined (right handed) idea though, even if it didn’t have a thing to do with books.

Nix’s books tend to start in the middle of some kind of action and throw the main character into it, leaving us to figure out details as he goes along. I think part of my problem was the relatively slow start and difficulty with how Susan was just thrown into some random alternate world with magic and hardly seemed phased.

The book has many, many random elements that don’t seem to fit together all that well. Plus there are all the ellipses and the fact that descriptions of clothes and Merlin’s crossdressing seem to get more attention than the magical world itself. I think it went beyond crossdressing to some kind of gender fluidity, although the cops saw through his outfit in two seconds so I’m not sure what the implication is.

I do think that Young Adult audiences need to be exposed to this type of content and it’s a good theme to like people for who they are, not how they look. That said, if Merlin and Vivian liked and respected Susan so much, why keep pooh-poohing her concerns like a child and brushing off her questions? Susan just took everything in stride and didn’t seem to have appropriate reactions to anything traumatic that was happening to her.

Also, on YA themes, Nix kept it entirely PG throughout and then got sassy right at the end with the big bed comment….from Susan’s mom? Really? Sigh, this book is definitely YA, and in it’s favor it read as more or less tolerable for me as an adult audience too. It’s not that tropey or eye roll worthy, it just didn’t hit the mark for me.

Have you read it? What did you think?

The Orange Dragon image by Elena Zakharchuk
Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

Book Review: The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

After returning to the UK and grabbing the matching hardcover of The Prisoner’s Throne, it was finally time to read The Stolen Heir. I’ve got to admit that it didn’t hit the same as Folk of the Air but it had a lot of good qualities and I was perfectly swept up by the end.

Let’s take a look at the book and I’ll share my thoughts

Bookish Quick Facts

  • Title: The Stolen Heir
  • Series: The Stolen Heir Duology #1, Elfhame #4
  • Author: Holly Black
  • Published: Little, Brown BfYR 2023
  • Length: 368 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐✨ for fans of dark fairy tales and darker YA fantasy

Here’s the Synopsis:

A runaway queen. A reluctant prince. And a quest that may destroy them both.

Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.

Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years.

Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He’s on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren’s help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind

-From Am*zon

My Thoughts

I have to say I absolutely disliked the beginning of this book. Holly Black is telling two separate stories at first: what is going on now, and then catching us up on Oak and Wren’s lives during and after The Serpent War. I like momentum to carry, not be sucked away by a story about the past.

Not that it’s a bad story, but I don’t remember Oak that well from the original trilogy. He seemed like a very minor side character and pretty docile, while I don’t remember Wren at all. I liked them both well enough though and once warming up to them, enjoyed the story.

It just took…..like 275 pages to get there.

Until the last maybe 75 pages I was on track for a two or three star read but found myself swept up in the final quarter and the ending. What is this going to turn into? Are we getting a villain origin story? I LOVE villains.

I also like how utterly terrible the unseelie are. Holly Black has no compunction about freezing corpses into walls or cutting off tongues, describing torture, and generally being awful to her characters. It was hard not to get caught up in what I assumed from the start would be a villain origin story.

It’s also undeniable that Holly Black can write lush descriptive language while not turning it into Purple Prose. I just feel like I’m walking through a terrible castle of ice with the royalty. She doesn’t waste her time with similes that leave us scratching our heads like many YA authors, no, she can actually write. And I like her style 😅

A few randoms: The Stolen Heir duology and The Cruel Prince can be read in either order, but I’d recommend TCP first. I think it’s worth reading if you enjoyed the first trilogy but be warned, it’s not all Jude and Cardan again although the references to them may leave you chucking.

I just want to know…. How did Oak know *the thing*? He’s a tricky one for sure and I’m so excited to see what happens between the characters next.

I’ll hopefully get started on the next book soon, after reading the synopsis I’m dying to know what happens.

Thanks for checking out my book review of The Stolen Heir by Holly Black. I purchased the hardcover and as always, all opinions are my own🖤

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black

This is total and utter brain candy and sometimes I need that in my life!

The Grishaverse got a fully illustrated book of stories, so why wouldn’t the Folk of the Air? I thought it was slightly fun that Leigh Bardugo was giving Black advice (per the author’s note). At least they worked together and didn’t copy each other haha!

Readers, do any other series have books like this that you know of?

Anyway, I read the Folk of the Air trilogy as they were coming out but I never read Cardan’s little book of illustrated tales.

It’s short, sweet, and I love the artwork even if it’s a bit repetitive by the end.

We got quite a bit of Cardan’s backstory throughout the trilogy but it was all through Jude’s point of view. Now we see certain formative events in his life through his eyes and it’s definitely not a necessary part of the story, yet it’s a fun amount of bonus material

I did like how there was a hint of a plot and storyline linking many of the stories together. The three iterations of the awful boy and monstrous girl story show how much he’s grown

All the hats off to Rovina Cai on the artwork

I’m using this as a stepping stone back into the world before reading the Stolen Heir duology. I thought it was a great way to spend an evening.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Bookish Quick Facts
  • Released: Little, Brown & Company 2020
  • Series: Elfhame / Folk Of the Air # 3.5
  • Length: 173 pages
  • Recommend: for fans of the series
Here’s the Synopsis

Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue.

Before he was a cruel prince or a wicked king, he was a faerie child with a heart of stone . Revealing a deeper look into the dramatic life of Elfhame’s enigmatic high king, Cardan, his tale includes delicious details of life before The Cruel Prince, an adventure beyond The Queen of Nothing, and familiar moments from The Folk of the Air trilogy, told wholly from Cardan’s perspective.

From GoodReads

Thanks for checking out by book thoughts on How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black. I bought it back when it came out and as always, all opinions are my own

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

Book Review: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Let’s open this by saying that I’ve read pretty much everything else Novik has written. The synopsis of A Deadly Education sounded very young adult to me though so I never read when it came out. (1st person POV of a teenager is a no no for me). I think it’s a GREAT book for YA though

If you want to read about the legend the series is loosely inspired by, I can’t find much else that isn’t part of the Scholomance on Wikipedia article. I remember The Scholomance dungeon from World of Warcraft lol and I never connected it to Romania or the Dracula legend.

Anyway, although these books have been suspiciously absent from the Nebula Awards, each has either been nominated for or won the Lodestar Award and it’s been nominated for the Hugo for best series, so it seems like I need to get on board and read. Let’s take a quick look at the book and I’ll share my thoughts.

Bookish Quick Facts

  • Title: A Deadly Education
  • Series: The Scholomance, #1
  • Author: Naomi Novik
  • Publisher: Del Rey, 2020
  • Length: 336 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐✨ for fans of magic schools & potentially dark heroines

Here’s the Synopsis

I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life. Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans.

I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts, I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world.

At least, that’s what the world expects. Most of the other students in here would be delighted if Orion killed me like one more evil thing that’s crawled out of the drains. Sometimes I think they want me to turn into the evil witch they assume I am. The school certainly does.

But the Scholomance isn’t getting what it wants from me. And neither is Orion Lake. I may not be anyone’s idea of the shining hero, but I’m going to make it out of this place alive, and I’m not going to slaughter thousands to do it, either. Although I’m giving serious consideration to just one.

From Am*zon

My Thoughts

So yeah, a very young adult feel.

I’m kind of at a loss as to how to feel about A Deadly Education. I love dark academia and the concept of the novel but El spends so much time whining about people not liking her or who sits with who at what table, or the loooooser freshmen. They’re such losers. Or those other loser kids, right? Novik definitely succeeded in writing something high schoolers will relate to but man, as a 30 something I’m liking this the least of any of Novik’s books so far (and I’ve read most of them) just due to the tone of the main character. Yes, she grows on me, but still!

The Characters & Certain Choices

I like the main character, El, and her dilemma, but her rudeness and constant drama is a bit hard to bear until her walls finally crack. I liked how she interacted with her alliance once they formed but before that, she was insufferable. Orion and the giant host of side characters seemed well realized though and I’m excited to see what they do in future books.

It’s also a curious choice to start the trilogy on the third year of school. The usual formula is to start in the first year and work through – and the result is that we are dumped into the junior year action. Unfortunately though there’s a lot of required info dumping that comes unbidden and often times in the middle of action or interrupting something that’s going on. We didn’t meet El at the beginning so she’s got to introduce herself, her past, the school, the magic, and the school social politics to catch us up to year three. I didn’t mind but it wandered away from the action a bit too much sometimes.

What I like the most is that El and Orion work together without really focusing on any kind of love interest. It’s so hard to find this in YA books that their partnership and fresh take on each other kept me reading and interested. Yes – zero romance, just a super oblivious boy that loves slaying all the monsters.

About the World

At a glance, the school and worldbuilding in general seems very shallow but I think, at least in a micro sense, it’s not. Everything inside the school is a delicate balance of manna and maleficaria, give and take, everything is sentient and alive and responding to the needs & hungers of thousands of students from all over the world. On a macro scale, not so much

I did like the trades in languages and spells and danger and how the school is a character itself, with its own needs and requirements and personality. Don’t get me wrong there are lots of good themes and thinking points for teens like strategic survival, the balance of good and evil tipping in either direction, treating others like human beings, and that boys have demons in their pants. Teens will be able to relate to the social hierarchy and realization of privilege is a necessary theme to explore. Content wise I love this for teens with very low language and zero spice.

Bookish Controversy?

To briefly touch on the issues and controversy that many readers found within the book: I tend to agree with those who say “read it for yourself and make your own judgement”. One of the top GoodReads reviews is a person who was offended by essentially everything, but then there are thousands of responses from people all over the world of different nationalities saying they thought it was fine. I think Novik just tried to cram way too much into 336 pages and the result is that everyone (regardless of nationality) except El and Orion get skimmed over, although I would have loved to see more Welsh and/or Indian lore and tradition coming through El.

Misc & Overall

Do I think this book deserved the Lodestar? Heck no. I’m not surprised it got nominated but I think it missed the other award categories for a reason.

I didn’t love the book for me personally but I do love it for young adults, in theme and content appropriateness. It has a lot of great aspects and I will be reading on and finishing the trilogy. I want to know what happened at the end! There is a cliffhanger (slight) in the form of a new mystery forming, but nothing too crazy.

I am getting these through the library, honestly I knew I wouldn’t love them enough to buy them and there is surprisingly a long wait-list for 2 and 3, so I’ll read them later this spring or summer.

Did you read A Deadly Education? What did you think?

Categories
Fantasy Historical Fiction Young Adult

The Courting Darkness Duology by Robin LaFevers

**Note: I included the book info and synopsis at the end, so do scroll down if you want to read that first**

I read Courting Darkness back when it first released in 2019, and then despite eagerly waiting for Igniting Darkness the following year I had entirely forgotten the plotlines and intricacies and many of the names when the book finally hit the shelves.

One note: Courting Darkness was always marketed as a stand alone duology separate from His Fair Assassin – to me this is TOTAL BLASPHEMY. Not recommended at all. No one I know who only read the duology enjoyed it very much. Trust me, the resolution of the French – Breton wars is a lot more interesting if you read about the war itself. HFA #3, Mortal Heart, ended with some extremely powerful scenes at the Siege of Rennes, and Courting Darkness picks up with Sybella on the ramparts viewing Mortain and Annith’s retreat. How do you read the duology without becoming close to these characters first? I think they tried to do it like Six of Crows can be read before Shadow & Bone but these just do not stand alone as well (in my opinion).

Anyway, here I am in 2024 finally doing a back to back reading of the duology that brings an end to the His Fair Assassin series. These are some of my favorite YA books and I love historical fantasy – I have to admit I was a little afraid to see show it all ended but am so glad I did. It feels good to complete another series this year. If the French – Breton conflicts but with otherworldly assassins sounds good to you, read on

While the His Fair Assassin trilogy had its ups and downs, LaFevers had tightened up her writing a lot by the end. This continued in Courting Darkness. Sybella and Beast are off to France to escort Anne of Brittany to her eventual wedding to the French King.

Right from the start, the Regent, the King’s sister, is setting up ambushes and trying to undermine Anne’s standing with the king. He isn’t a bad guy but he’s only got room in his head for one woman – who happens to be a total snake. Along with the rest of the King’s crooked and unethical advisors, Sybella and Beast have their work cut out for them keeping the new Queen safe.

The action is there, but fairly limited in Courting Darkness. The book has a lot more political intrigue and evil machinations going on than physical action. I didn’t mind it this time around and enjoyed the journey. Sybella is learning that even her darkest history doesn’t change her worthiness and I appreciated her character arc as she fights off her evil brother and keeps her sisters safe. She and Beast are everything in these books – constantly reassuring each other they are deserving no matter what happened in the past.

Genevieve is the new character, the one buried in the French courts by the convent so many years ago. I didn’t love her during my first reading, and I’m still not convinced that teens need to be reading about women taking multiple partners, but the French were a lot less restricted about sexuality and LaFevers brought that into the book. That said, Genevieve had some ridiculously hard choices to make since she was essentially abandoned by the convent and she had to save herself. I liked her a lot in Igniting Darkness.

The two books are two parts of one long story. Courting Darkness sets up the court intrigue and political history, while Igniting Darkness takes us back to war on every front. I loved how the action slowly ramped up and how all the evil schemes were so cleverly dismantled by the Convents.

As is typical for YA books, the characters had satisfactory resolutions by the end of the duology. I would have liked a little more damage but to be fair, the characters had the shit beat out of them throughout the five books and I think they deserved a little happiness by the end. The king surprised me and there were so many times I wanted to high-5 the Queen for being amazing.

What I probably appreciate the most, after the characters, is how well the author again uses terrain and setting and atmosphere in the first person POV to make the books feel so immersive.

I will endlessly recommend these books to anyone who wants a true dose of court and political intrigue and women who suffer who fools. The HFA series is based on real events and integrate actual historical figures in with the fiction & fantasy, in such a way that is believable and feels natural within the world.

I am a huge fan of strong female characters that create their own agency and are not idiots. They are all absolutely fierce, from Ismae at the beginning to Annith and Sybella, Gen, and Anne of course. I hope LaFevers might write more books someday, either in this world or elsewhere.

Bookish Quick Facts:

  • Courting Darkness: Courting Darkness Duology, #1, released 2019 from HMH. 498 pages. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Igniting Darkness: Courting Darkness Duology #2, Released 2020 from HMH, 537 pages. ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

Here’s the Synopsis of Igniting Darkness:

Two assassins will risk absolutely everything—even their own divinity—to save the people and the country they love in this lush historical fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Robin LaFevers.

When you count Death as a friend, who can stand as your enemy?

Sybella, novitiate of the convent of Saint Mortain and Death’s vengeance on earth, is still reeling from her God’s own passing, and along with him a guiding hand in her bloody work. But with her sisters on the run from their evil brother and under the watchful eye of her one true friend (and love) at court, the soldier known as Beast, Sybella stands alone as the Duchess of Brittany’s protector.

After months of seeking her out, Sybella has finally made contact with a fellow novitiate of the convent, Genevieve, a mole in the French court. But Sybella, having already drawn the ire of the French regent, may not be able to depend on her sister and ally as much as she hoped.

Still, Death always finds a way, even if it’s not what one expects. No one can be trusted and the wolves are always waiting

From Am*zon

Have you read them? What do you think? I will import my reviews of the first three His Fair Assassin books into the blog this week so that it’s all here!

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

Book Review: A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

Thanks so much to Bookish First for letting me get my hands on an early finished copy of this book!

I was a pretty big fan of We Hunt the Flame and was intrigued by the synopsis of A Tempest of Tea. They take place in the same universe but on different continents. I don’t believe that any of the characters overlap unless I’m forgetting something, so yes, A Tempest of Tea can be read first but it is not a standalone, as it starts a new duology and ends on a cliffhanger.

Let’s take a look at the book and I’ll share my thoughts

Bookish Quick Facts

  • Title: A Tempest of Tea
  • Series: Blood and Tea, #1
  • Author: Hafsah Faizal
  • Published: FS&G, February 2024
  • Length: 352 pages
  • Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐✨ for fans of YA fantasy heists, hints of romance, and kittens

Here’s the Synopsis

A hotly-anticipated fantasy duology teeming with romance and revenge, led by an orphan girl willing to do whatever it takes to save her self-made kingdom.

On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by night, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it―she can’t do the job alone.

Calling on some of the city’s most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the sinister, glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it.

Synopsis from Am*zon

My Thoughts

Tempest is a fast paced book that was certainly fun to read, although it has some rough edges. Young adult books don’t usually spend a lot of time on world building and scene setting and this is no exception, although we get enough background to follow the heist plot.

I liked the characters and their banter and snark. Each is fighting for something that boils down to some kind of hope and acceptance after past traumas. The main character theme seems to be seeing people for who they really are and what they can contribute. Companion animals are also making a comeback and I’m not complaining at all.

Character wise, Arthie is super resourceful and tough, a criminal who gets her crew through the tough times, but also swoons at pretty much every pretty boy. *Eye roll*. I liked Jin more except Arthie bleeds into his chapters and tends to take over. I believe him more as a criminal. Flick is finding her way in the criminal world and learning fast. The banter and found family aspect is well done between them all, even without the snarkiest vampire ever getting involved.

My biggest issue is that within the multiple points of view, I don’t think the characters have truly distinct voices. Each chapter bleeds other characters’ descriptions and issues and motivations in. If you really want to distinguish points of view they need to stay true to the featured character.

A stylistic thing that really drove me nuts was how Faizal likes to repeat words for emphasis frequently. Not direct quotes but for example: I was so, so far away. It hurt so, so much. Maybe it’s ok once or twice but she does it quite a bit.

Rapid fire likes and dislikes: it’s a pretty typical fantasy heist book. I liked the different twist on vampires. I thought the heist itself was a tad anticlimactic. I love a little fuzzy gray companion animal. The political plotting is nice. I don’t love all the time spent staring at quirking lips – this only carries so far with so many repetitions.

That said – there are definitely hints of romance in A Tempest of Tea but it’s not the main focus.

Overall though it’s a fast paced book with enough banter and action to carry me through quickly, but it’s definitely YA. If you hate cliffhangers…beware. I do recommend this one if you aren’t fed up with YA and it sparks your interest.

Thanks so much for checking out my book review of A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal. I used my Bookish First points to grab a finished copy and as always, All opinions are my own ♥️

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

Book Review: Bright We Burn by Kiersten White

Bright We Burn by Kiersten White, the pomegranate being burst by a flaming knife cover cover

I did it, I completed the trilogy finally and now can stop worrying about how it’s all going to end. Did I see the end coming from two books away? Sure. Was it as anticlimactic as many people were saying? Kind of. It can’t be denied that The Conqueror Saga has a weak ending. It’s not a happy, but more of a bittersweet ending.

Along the way, was it gloriously dark and bloody and full of as many betrayals as it was corpses? Well… 20000 betrayals is too much for one book but it was close.

Also can we just all pause right now and agree that the cover is a sex thing? There are no pomegranates in the book and that imagery plus the spilling of seeds…. Yes, I mean I hadn’t even opened the book before I guessed that someone important was getting impregnated. Spoiler alert – I was right.

Akright. I think that if you have read the book already and want to read my thoughts, keep reading. If you haven’t read it yet but want to know how the story ends: I recommend that you keep reading the series: it was worth it. THEN come back and read this. If you haven’t read it, stop at the My Thoughts header

Bright We Burn by Kiersten White, with Lada glaring out of the cover

Gosh I don’t even like the alternative cover of this one, she looked much fiercer to me in the others

Bookish Quick Facts

  • Title: Bright We Burn
  • Series: The Conqueror Saga #3
  • Author: Kiersten White
  • Published: Delacorte, 2018
  • Length: 416 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐✨ for fans of dark & quasi historical fantasy, strong female protagonists

Here’s the Synopsis

SOME LOVES HEAL

Haunted over the unknown fates of Nazira and Cyprian, Radu is called back to the new capital. Mehmed is building an empire, becoming the sultan his people need. But Mehmed has a secret: as emperor, he is more powerful than ever . . . and desperately lonely. Does this mean Radu can finally have more with Mehmed . . . and does he even want it

SOME LOVES DESTROY

Lada’s rule of absolute justice has created a Wallachia free of crime. But Lada won’t rest until everyone knows that her country’s borders are inviolable. Determined to send a message of defiance, she has the bodies of Mehmed’s peace envoy delivered to him, leaving Radu and Mehmed with no choice. They must go to war against the girl prince, who has truly become the dragon. If Lada is allowed to continue, only death will prosper.

SOME LOVES NEVER END

Only by destroying everything that came before–including her relationships–can Lada truly build the country she wants. Radu fears that they are underestimating his sister’s indomitable will. But Mehmed loves Lada. He knows that he understands her. She must lose to him so he can keep her safe. It is the only way . . . isn’t it?

From the Publisher’s website

My Thoughts

Ok, hopefully all the spoiler free people have gone home now and the rest of us can dig in and discuss the book!

The mixed feelings are real since Bright We Burn was Radu’s book. I never cared for his search for love, whether it’s romantic or familial or otherwise. I think he’s clever and a good person and a good character at heart but he spent so much time whining about Mehmed and Cyprian over the series that I couldn’t care for him.

Just give me all the bloody, terrible, Lada the Impaler. She spiralled into some kind of madness in this book and I think even she realized it had gone far too far. She couldn’t figure out how to stop so she just escalated.

That said, I loved those twenty thousand corpses. In her defense she probably would have kept her country and driven Mehmed out if every rich person with a dick didn’t constantly betray her. The traditional patriarchy in some of these countries is so maddening to read about, I couldn’t imagine living it. Lada is everything that YA needs a lot more of, and she’s balanced by the other extreme, which is Radu being far too sensitive. It provided an interesting mix of bleak and terrible events with Radu’s family love story 🤷‍♀️

My other mixed feelings come from the last few chapters. The Conqueror’s Saga is strong but the ending is disproportionately weak. Lada and Radu reconciled FAR too easily considering everything. I can’t buy them, so devastated, coming together like they did, although maybe the point was that he finally broke her. Just enough to tame her.

And then the epilogue…. I don’t know why KIersten White made 40 year olds sound like they’re 80 but maybe in the 1400s, 40 was the equivalent of 80. There are differing stories of how the actual Vlad the Impaler died. The one in the book seemed like an anticlimactic afterthought, like can we at least assume that everything in Lada’s rule went well in the meantime? White mixed a lot of history where Mehmed mentions a head on his gate, and Radu thanks him for bringing the body back ….. So maybe White mixed a few tales and we can only hope that wasn’t actually Lada’s head. A head is a head, after all.

I liked the concept of the ending and I loved the little holy terror of a toddler, but I would have liked more about how Lada did after Radu left her. She had what, 20 years of peace? A few sentences would have done it.

That all aside. Lada is right up there with my favorite protagonists. This is a dark and bloody and even darker book but I love her so much and am glad I went back and reread in order to finish the trilogy this year.

Thanks for checking out my book review of Bright We Burn by Kiersten White. I have owned these books since they came out and it’s far past time I finished them. As always, all opinions are my own 🖤

Categories
audiobooks Fantasy Young Adult

Audiobook Review: Stones of Light by Zack Argyle

Stones of Light by Zack Argyle, in white text, in front of a blonde woman Laurel and her Green wolf life companion, with a vague blue and purple background
Stones of Light by Zack Argyle

Intro

I know I said after Voice of War that I wasn’t interested in continuing, although I had already purchased the audiobooks and so here we are. Overall, I would say that Stones of Light was a lot more interesting and provided at least a little bit of much-needed background. I still have tons of questions but found this to be a much more rewarding book!

Let’s take a quick look at it and I’ll share my thoughts (Note: there are very very light spoilers in this ramble that aren’t really spoilers, but if that will deter you, stop after the synopsis. In summary I said I liked it more than book one and would recommend this series for new fantasy readers or young adults).

Bookish Quick Facts

  • Title: Stones of Light
  • Series: Threadlight, #2
  • Author: Zack Argyle (Narrator Adam Gold)
  • Published: Self, 2021
  • Length: 362 pages (11 hours)
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐✨

Here’s the Synopsis:

THEIR CHILD WILL SAVE THE WORLD, IF THEY CAN KEEP THE DAMN KID ALIVE

Chrys swore to never again let the Apogee take control but, in a moment of desperation, he gave in. Now, he will learn what the Apogee truly wants.

In Alchea, Laurel will do anything to get her threadlight back, even if it means working for the leader of the Bloodthieves. But she has no choice…a life without threadlight is no life at all.

To the west, Alverax travels with the Zeda people to the large port city of Felia, where they seek refuge after the fires in the Fairenwild. But he shattered the coreseal, and no one quite knows what the consequences will be. They only know it won’t be good.

Together, they changed the world-now, they must save it.

From Am*zon

My Thoughts

Ok so first off, considering that both of the first two books in Threadlight only use in-world slang, why say “damn” in the first line of the synopsis? Seems like a weird tone to set since the book isn’t funny like that and doesn’t make use of offhanded swearing. I don’t mind swearing but to me, this sets a weird tone for the book.

If you read my review of Voice of War, you already know most of what I would say about this one as well. I think that Chrys remains a fairly static character and the most change is seen in Alverax. I liked seeing Alverax take some responsibility for his past actions and do some truly good things. I also loved the sequences about naming stars for the deceased, as I have a fixation on death customs in fantasy and this is a lovely idea.

Laurel too is finally starting to realize that actions have consequences. I detest brash teenage characters and will fully admit that I liked seeing her a bit ruined and humbled in front of her grandfather, now dying, and the elders, who obviously have reasons for what they do. Like yeah addicts have inhibited reasoning but DUH TEENAGERS KNOW BEST ANYWAY and yeah, it didn’t last long but I liked seeing her learn a few hard lessons.

Plotwise the book got a lot more interesting as well. There is background now to why Threadweavers have this ability, although I don’t see how (and we just had this conversation about Cultivation novels) people are born with, develop, or otherwise contain rocks or gems or metal in their bodies.

There is also some more lore about the Gods, Heralds, or whatever else various cultures might call them. I liked this part the most since we finally find out why they want war (do we though?) and what some of their motivations are. The thing in Chrys’ head finally has more to say than MMMM at least.

So….. overall, I like the plotting, betrayals, Big Plot Twists, and general destruction of all the plot lines happening in this book. Despite not really being certain on most of the Why, Chrus and his mom and company and are off to cause mayhem and try to stop the Big Baddies from doing whatever they are going to do. OH yeah, what is up with Chrys’ mom saving the day multiple times throughout this series?

Overall, again, Adam Gold saves this one because if I was on page I’d have stopped reading during book one. I am much more interested in continuing to read book three, than I was to start this one. Once again I think this series is best for younger readers as the content does stay very clean, or readers new to fantasy as a genre

Thanks for checking out my audiobook and book review of Stones of Light by Zack Argyle. I purchased the audiobooks (and long ago bought the EBooks but never got there) and as always, all opinions are my own

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

Book Review: The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

Intro

It has been hard for me to find time to read physical books recently, so I have to apologize to Bookish First for coming in super late with this review. I read and absolutely loved KLB’s first duology, The Keeper of Night, and found this to be a great followup.

Between Rati Mehrotra and KLB I am really starting to love these Asian alternate history fantasies. Anyway, let’s look at the book facts and then I’ll share my thoughts

Bookish Quick Facts

  • Title: The Scarlet Alchemist
  • Series: The Scarlet Alchemist, #1
  • Author: Kylie Lee Baker
  • Published: Inkyard Press, October 2023
  • Length: 432 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ for fans of darker YA books

Here’s the Synopsis

New from the author of The Keeper of Night comes a YA fantasy duology set in an alternate Tang Dynasty China, where a poor biracial girl with the ability to raise the dead gets caught up in the dangerous political games of the royal family.

Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price.

When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her to the capital, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.

The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s past—catch up with her

From Am*zon

My Thoughts

If you like books that don’t have happy paths or happy endings, not everyone lives, and someone probably dies instead of fulfilling a romance ARC, Kylie Lee Baker’s books are for you. Shes an auto buy author for me at this point because I want that YA banter entwined in a darker, more visceral plot like this.

I liked Zilan, her cousins, and the prince especially. There’s a lot of family banter and exasperated antics, but then maybe they’re starving or resurrecting a corpse with alchemy or watching a child burn in the street. There’s humor and charm and an adorable but possibly evil baby duck too to lighten the mood.

I think the plot is great. The pacing is great. There’s political intrigue, alchemy, journeying, secrets in secrets, and according to the author’s note, a look at life in the Tang Dynasty for a poor merchant family. I like that Baker points out both accurate and inaccurate historical references so we know where she took liberties and what may have looked like real life.

What I like most about KLB’s writing is that whatever I expect is going to happen doesn’t. A lot of YA has fallen into a trap of quick romances and repetitive inner monologue and predictable plots and it’s kind of terrible. I don’t read much of it anymore. Zilan does have a bit of an inner monologue problem but overall, the book moved constantly forward and surprised me at most turns.

Would definitely recommend for fans of alternate historical fantasy, alchemy, and darker YA. The content is low for language and romance but high in death and violence so I’d say it’s appropriate for age 16+. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Thanks for checking out my book review of The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker. I used my saved up Bookish First points to claim a free finished hardcover, with the expectation of an honest review. All options are my own ♥️