Category: Young Adult

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (Book Thoughts)

Thanks to Wyrd & Wonder this month for hosting a read along for The Bone Witch! This book has been on my TBR for a while since it was pretty popular on bookstagram.  I was disappointed overall and all things considered don’t regret checking it out.

While the weekly discussion posts included spoilers, these are my spoiler free thoughts on the entire novel.

Bookish Quick Facts:
  • Title: The Bone Witch
  • Series: The Bone Witch #1
  • Author: Rin Chupeco
  • Publisher & Release: Sourcebooks Fire, 2017
  • Length: 432 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐ for fans of slow moving fantasy
Here’s the synopsis via Am*zon:

A story of scorned witches, sinister curses, and resurrection, The Bone Witch is the start of a dark fantasy trilogy, perfect for fans of Serpent & Dove and The Cruel Prince.

Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price…

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother, Fox, from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha―one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice.

My Thoughts:

I wanted to hit two stars for most of the book and came so close to DNFing.

The one thing I will truly give the book credit for is keeping all content age-advertised appropriate.  There’s one use of the word ‘ass’ and nothing “physically romantic”, so I would let kids read this no problem.

There were a lot of potentially cool elements like resurrection, dark magic, undead familiar horses… I wanted to like this more but the second quarter of the book lost me irredeemably.

It was hard not having an antagonist or clear conflict throughout. I don’t come to necromancy to read about clothes and dancing. At the end, the antagonist that was presented felt tossed into the story with no clues or lead up or prior thought regarding the one responsible, which caused the ending to not be rewarding at all. She just revealed a bunch of new but apparently ongoing things and said ok, readers will accept this for sure since it has apparently been happening for weeks now.

The story is framed by Tea telling the events of the past to a bard. I kind of liked this because it gave a degree of separation from the teenage first person point of view. Something exciting is building up in the present as Tea bored me to tears with the past. I was expecting the time lines to meet up in book one, although the story that Tea is telling the bard at the end of The Bone Witch is still well behind the events happening in real time. I thought the frame would only frame one book but apparently not, and that’s what I found the most disappointing.

I also think that we wasted a lot of time learning about clothes and Asha customs and it felt essentially like reading Memoirs of a Geisha, to the point that I set it down for a week wondering if I should just go read that book again instead. Then there’s the random storyline of Likh wanting to cross dress and dance as an Asha, which isn’t inherently bad but it’s bad enough to read about women’s clothes for so long without adding men into it as well. Basically most of the “Asha Training” was boring as hell and the book left all actual plot and storyline with consequences to be damned until the last quarter or so.

There are a lot of cool things she could have done with an undead familiar. Fox could have been interesting but there were no consequences to his dead-ness until the third quarter when the author finally decided to characterize him. I also think Tea felt like a wet blanket. She didn’t really have an arc of growth or maturity, it was more about her excelling in “training” and coming through the novice Asha cough Geisha ranks.  I can’t even say she’s more mature in present time yet, more powerful yes but the rest is to be determined.

Chupeco did bring out the action and make it all much more interesting in the last quarter but prior to that I hadn’t been compelled to continue reading at any point throughout.

Also I don’t think the author owes the copy editor and proofreader any favors. Some dialogue hinted at previous events that as far as I could tell never occurred. Kalen referred to himself as Kalen a few times in conversation like the author forgot who was talking while writing the conversation, or had originally intended a third person to be talking. This book had a LOT of those kinds of errors. One of my biggest issues was how much of this felt ripped off from other books, it wasn’t just Geisha.

My general lack of interest was the result of lots of small things.adding up. In the big picture, the snail slow pace and lack of clear conflict didn’t align with a typical YA novel at all. I’d expect this pace for a slow burning and very long adult fantasy. Speaking of time it was also very hard to tell how much time was passing as the story went. At one point Tea was “almost 15” but I thought she was much older already. Then I couldn’t even remember two years having passed 🤷‍♀️

There were a few funny parts and some witty dialogue and overall it’s a good idea, but I don’t personally feel like the book delivered. I did LOL at the cow and the horse part. Even at the end when things are heating up and I expected answers, we just got more questions pointing towards the next book.

The series may get better as it goes but I don’t have any immediate interest in continuing the trilogy. It has some redeeming qualities and obviously going forward there’s going to be more action than party training (hopefully) so….we’ll see.

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

The Splintered Series by A.G. Howard (Wyrd & Wonder: Magical Location)

Magic portal artwork by Tithi Luadthong

Today’s Wyrd & Wonder prompt is Magical Location.  What could be more magical than Wonderland?  I have struggled with whether I should write something, anything, or nothing, about the SPLINTERED series by A.G. Howard.  I carried the books around for years because they had pretty artwork and made good Instagram props, but honestly I was miffed and half disgusted reading them.

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I pushed through the series mostly out of respect for how long I lugged them around while I moved and travelled and … *Sigh*.  If it weren’t for the audiobooks it would have been a no go. I couldn’t have finished. All the pretty artwork and burgundy/purple/blue font in the world can’t fix this!

The gist is that Alyssa’s maternal line is descended from the original Alice who went down the rabbit hole. There’s an interesting story buried somewhere regarding family secrets and what *actually* happened all those years ago.

We spend book one, Splintered, meeting  Howard’s questionable take on mental health and learning how wishy washy & stupidly dependent the main character is.  Her one “love interest” is possessive and awful despite the fact that they aren’t even dating at first. No one cares about their skateboarding plaid wearing emo drama awfulness.  Alyssa has fake dreadlocks made of string that the guy called “tight” and I said, good God can this get stupider?

Well, yes, it can

Moving on to Wonderland, I actually did like Howard’s creepy take on the Fae inhabitants of the other realm.  She has good descriptions and maintains that dangerous, wild atmosphere.

I didn’t like Morpheus, who is the only one obviously even more possessive and terrible to Alyssa than the first guy, Jeb.  I get that solitary fae are terrible anyway but she never exactly stuck to her guns and said no to him. So we spend about 2.75 out of 3 books watching these assholes literally kill Alyssa as she tries to please everyone and never learns to stand up for herself.  There is an outright episode of strangulation in book two that’s apparently excusable and not a big deal because he was given drugs.  Please talk to your teens if you buy them this series, I would recommend confirming that they don’t believe this is acceptable behavior under any circumstances.

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Anyway, back to the book, when we are in Wonderland, or the looking glass realm, those were my favorite parts. The second book in the series, Unhinged, was my least favorite because 1) we never saw Wonderland and 2) omg the evil queen is attacking PROM and the entire book is about post prom sex that thankfully doesn’t occur.

Ok let’s go there for a minute – by the end of the series, in Ensnared, Howard made Wonderland into a religious afterlife take, which is fine.  She kept Alyssa virtuous for both of her weddings, which is great, but she didn’t own the religious theme throughout the series at all.  I don’t like when authors just dump it in at the end, and in this case it was a weird take since neither the characters nor series really reflected a lot of christian ideals.

The last book, the collection of novellas, gave a lot of background and closure that she never gave us in Ensnared. I felt like Howard tried to keep doing apologetics for Morpheus and just also failed in negating how disloyal Alyssa was to either guy throughout the series, and, frankly she should have left both of them because emotional abuse is abuse too 🤷‍♀️ I actually get what she was trying to do with the “split selves” but it just comes across as poor behavior on everyone’s part.

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I mean ok I thought the Caraval series was bad and Tella was the stupidest female MC ever, but Alyssa just is so, so much worse. I think it’s hilarious that Stephanie Garber plugged the series because it’s so similar.  The girls can’t go one page without being trusting, being betrayed by, “learning their lesson”, and then going back to the guy that’s spinning them around like a yo-yo.  Really how much can we take of this? Why did I finish these books?

There was just enough of a story that I wanted to see what happened, and wasn’t too mad.  Alyssa’s dad is the only character that I liked and he became a big part of book three, which was my favorite of the entire lot by far.  The looking glass world was interesting and there wasn’t actually a terrible plot at heart with the manipulative red queen and all the terrible things happening in Wonderland.

Lord I just wish the characters weren’t so terrible. And I didn’t like that book two kept us only in the real world.  As far as the audiobook, how did this take place in a small town in Texas yet only one character had a southern accent? He also sounded like the voice that young kids make when they’re making fun of a dumb person and try to use a low, flat octave.

It’s so bad, I can’t reconcile these pretty books with how much I don’t even think teens need to be reading them.  The most telling fact is that book one had 61,000 ratings while book three didn’t even clear 20k.  A lot of people got bent out of shape over the mental health aspects, but I get it, I mean we do terrible but necessary things to psych patients even in the hospital so I’m assuming they do it in care centers too if worst comes to it.  It was definitely fictionalized though.  The glorifying and apologetics regarding partner abuse was the other thing bringing a lot of reviewer criticism and that’s the one I don’t think teens need. Learn to say no and stick to your guns.

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That said, at the end of the day I can see where these were fairly popular books but I don’t think they’re going to hold up well.  I rated the first two books 2/5 stars and the third and fourth (the stories collection) 3 stars.

There’s a decent plot there and a lot of good ideas but you have to wade through a LOT of shit to find it

Categories
Fantasy Fiction Young Adult

Clash of Fate and Fury by Rachel Menard (ARC Review)

Thanks so much to Flux for letting me read this one early, and my apologies for the late review. I was in the three star range on Game of Strength and Storm but wanted to see how the duology ended – it did not disappoint.  Part of me honestly wishes that authors would cool it with the mythology mashups and keep the tellings more traditional, but Menard puts in a lot of good YA themes and companion pets and things that I like. This was actually a vast improvement from book one and overall I do recommend the series for YA readers

Bookish Quick Facts:
  • Title: Clash of Fate and Fury
  • Series: Labors of Gen #2
  • Author: Rachel Menard
  • Publisher & Release: North Star Editions, March 2023
  • Length: 418 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐for YA fantasy & mythology fans and for anyone interested.
Here’s the synopsis via Am*zon

Seventeen-year-old Gen may have rescued her beloved father from prison, but she hasn’t saved him yet. If she fails her end of a bargain with the Olympian Empresses, they will send him right back to his cell. To keep the Empresses happy, Gen must bring them the legendary golden apples of Hesperides and the monstrous Cerberus. But both are rumored to be in the neighboring Elysium Empire, which has a long history of war with Olympia. Making matters worse, Gen’s former enemy and newly designated heir to the isle of Arcadia Castor invites herself on the journey, hoping a golden apple could end Arcadia’s reliance on Illumium for storm vials. And Castor’s twin brother, Gen’s StormMaker boyfriend Pollux, has been pulling away from Gen due to troubles stemming from her mind magic. With Castor’s pirate-thief girlfriend and Pollux’s servant companion in tow, the unlikely team embarks on its voyage. But war is only an insult away in Elysium, and more than the Emperor has their eyes on Gen’s mission. The quest has caught the attention of one of Elysium’s Oracles, and trouble is sure to brew with Prophecy on the rise.

My thoughts:

So I know I wasn’t too keen on the first book but so much improved in this one that I quite enjoyed it as a YA fantasy loosely based in Greek mythology.  It felt more like a traditional story with harrowing straits, sirens, shipwrecks, fire breathing cranky dogs and more!

The characters grew and learned some hard life lessons and I think their arcs were brought through the story really well. Everyone had to realize that their fates weren’t written in stone and that they needed a team to succeed. Gen had to accept failure and help from her book one rival, Castor.  Castor had to accept the help of the team and realize that she’s not a one woman island. I actually liked her in this book.  Pollux (and everyone really) also had to accept himself and his powers.

Adikia was a nice addition to the cast but she didn’t get a point of view. There’s the f/f relationship for those who enjoy those aspects. Overall the steam was very light but the relationships themselves were wholesome and good for the characters at the end.

If y’all can’t love yourselves for who you are, how can you expect anyone else to? I think that’s the crutch here.  The other crutch is fate and prophecy, which resulted in “the big twist” that I didn’t see coming.

There’s also a ton of action compared to book one and it’s spaced out a little more evenly. I was never bored. Book one took me three weeks to finish, and this one only about four days.  I liked the trials and the teamwork and Menard also did a better job bringing overall setting and atmosphere into the book.

The themes of family were still there too, whether it was accepting and fighting for the one you have or finding one that suits you better. Or both.  It’s ok to want these things Castor, Pollux, Gen, you guys can do it! You’re made of more than your dreams!

Overall/ TLDR:

I was sketchy on book one but I totally recommend these for teens. The content is clean and there are good themes. 4 stars overall for the duology and for bringing the duology home with a vastly improved second novel

Thanks for checking out my book review of Clash of Fate and Fury by Rachel Menard! I received a free digital early copy via the publisher through  NetGalley, and as always, all opinions are my own ♥️

Categories
Science Fiction Young Adult

SPSFC2 Semifinalist Review: Dim Stars by Brian P. Rubin

As the semifinalist round of the 2023 SPSFC comes to a close, here is another full review from me. If you haven’t been following along, I’m a member of team At Boundary’s Edge and have been posting my individual reviews and scores. These opinions are mine alone and don’t reflect those of the team nor anyone else in the competition. Anyway, let’s look at the book and then you can see my 5th review out of six to come before the end of April!

Bookish Quick Facts:
  • Title: Dim Stars
  • Series: N/A
  • Author: Brian P. Rubin
  • Release: Self Published, 2020
  • Length: 353 pages
  • SPSFC Rating: 7.5/10
here’s the synopsis via Am*zon:

Kenzie Washington, fourteen-year-old girl genius, signs up for a two-week tour as a cadet on the spaceship of her idol, Captain Dash Drake. Too bad Dash, who once saved the galaxy from the evil Forgers, is a broke loser and much less than meets the eye. But when an intergalactic evil appears and launches an attack, Dash, Kenzie, and the ship’s crew escape, making them the next target. On the run and low on gas, Dash and Kenzie encounter cannibal space-pirates, catastrophic equipment failure, and a cyborg who’s kind of a jerk. Kenzie is determined to discover the bad guys’ secret plan. But for her to succeed, Dash needs to keep his brilliant, annoying cadet from getting killed …which is a lot harder than it sounds.

My thoughts:

Dim Stars: A Novel of Outer-Space Shenanigans is full of humor and, yes,  shenanigans. There’s an octopus first mate and a 14 year old super hacker genius girl who saves the day. A pasta obsessed commander. A captain who’s kind of an idiot. A snarky robot ship doctor. These are just some of the characters you’ll meet and together they make a mildly exasperating crew.

I think Dim Stars is totally appropriate for middle grade or younger teens. I mostly found it silly but there are good themes for teens.  What do you do when your hero isn’t actually that heroic? Believe in yourself. Make the best out of, and do your best in every situation.  Be brave. I would hand this off to a middle grader for sure.

Plot wise Dim Stars definitely wasn’t slow or boring.  There’s a plot to steal planets and wreak havoc in the galaxy. There’s a cranky not-heroic-at-all captain who’s heart grows about three sizes as he admits he has responsibility to the galaxy and his crew. 

And…an octopus. I already said that but come on, there’s an octopus crew member. I love when alien biology and different races comes into the plot.  There’s a hilarious exchange where one alien thinks the octopus is a human and says they all look alike 🤣

Anyway, I don’t have a ton to say about the book but again, I like it for the recommended age group. I think he hit all the boxes for YA and am coming in at 7.5 to indicate a fairly strong book.

Thanks for checking out my book review of Dim Stars by Brian P Rubin. I found my copy through Kindle Unlimited and as always, all opinions are my own 🚀 Stay tuned for one final SPSFC2 Semifinalist Review as we wrap up this month!

Categories
Biographies, Memoirs, Nonfiction Fantasy Fiction Middle Grade Young Adult

Middle Grade March: Horrible Histories and five of my favorite MG books

I utterly failed at MiddleGradeMarch this year and finally read one of the Horrible Histories books. I’ll consider that a win!  Let me talk about that/those books for two seconds and then I’ll link some of my favorite MiddleGrade Reads from prior years to make up for my total lack of features.

I think it’s important (and getting more difficult) to find good and age appropriate Middle Grade books so I do try to participate every year. March was busy though 🤷‍♀️

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So I bought a Horrible Histories book for my niece called Dark Knights and Dingy Castles, and it was just about everything I’ve come to expect from these books.  Tons of good facts, funny illustrations, and thankfully not dumbed down too much for the age group.  Kids love gross facts and there’s definitely some poop involved.  The illustration above shows mad cows and a guy peeing, but are you going to forget crenels vs merlons after that?

I think it’s great how the illustrations are goofy but also help with recall.  Heck knows I don’t remember dry historical reading.

Long story short this one talks all about tournaments, brave and cowardly knights, castles, sieges, and a ton more. It’s great. These books have been around forever (1997 this one) and they have staying power for a reason! 100% recommend for the age group and/or anyone who wants to read horrible history for fun

I also wanted to link a few of my MG favorites over the years.  Obviously there’s Fablehaven and Skulduggery Pleasant and all the “regular” MG favorites, but let’s look at a relatively diverse list of some of the indies and small press MG books that I’ve loved over the past few years!

Geanna Culbertson is one of my favorite people in the indie and young reader community, you can read an amazing author interview I did with her here where we talk all about age appropriateness and her lovely MG series Crisanta Knight.  I reviewed the first few of them on here too back in the day. Princesses saving the day, fairy tales, and girl power, heck yeah

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A really cool little book by an Indian author is Asha and the Spirit Bird. A girl is guided through an adventure possibly by the spirit of her grandmother to save the family farm. It is a beautiful story set in rural India and I loved it endlessly

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The White Fox is by Chinese author Chen Jiatong and now the first two books have been translated into English.  It’s sad at times and well done in all regards as a fox goes on an adventure after watching his parents die 

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Dealing with anxiety, family addiction, parental strain, and a lot of other things at a completely age appropriate level, is one of my favorite MG books EVER: The Wild Path by Sarah Baughman.  I love the magic wild horses and not so magic actual horses that the main character uses to hold on to magic in a difficult time of change

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Last but not least is another of my favorite MG series: The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night. She has so much magical artwork and interactive things for this great series that’s HP with a lot more girl power and cute dragons.  Ivy Lovely is out to solve a curse and prove her heritage as she works her way through a magical school of discovery and beyond.  Um…apparently I have to upload my reviews for books one and two but trust me, they’re lovely books.  Here’s a link to check them out

What are your favorite MG books? Have you read any of these??

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong

Happy book birthday today to Nightbirds!  I got an early finished copy through Bookish First and enjoyed it more than any YA I’ve read in recent memory. I wish all YA fantasy was like this!

Bookish Quick Facts:
  • Title: Nightbirds
  • Series: Nightbirds #1
  • Author: Kate J Armstrong
  • Publisher & Release: Nancy Paulsen Books,  2/28/23
  • Length: 480 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for fans of YA fantasy and strong women!
Here’s the synopsis from Am*zon:

In a dazzling new fantasy world full of whispered secrets and political intrigue, the magic of women is outlawed but four girls with unusual powers have the chance to change it all.

The Nightbirds are Simta’s best-kept secret: Girls with a unique and powerful magic they can gift with just a kiss. Some would kill to possess them; the church would kill them outright. But protected by the Great Houses, the Nightbirds are well-guarded treasures.

As this Season’s Nightbirds, Matilde, Æsa, and Sayer will spend their nights bestowing their gifts to well-paying clients. Once their season is through, they’re each expected to marry a Great House lord and become mothers to the next generation of Nightbirds before their powers fade away. But as they find themselves at the heart of a political scheme that threatens not only their secrets, but their very lives, their future suddenly becomes uncertain.

When they discover that there are other girls like them and that their magic is far more than they were told, they see the Nightbird system for what it is: a gilded cage. Now they must make a choice—to remain kept birds or take control, remaking the city that dared to clip their wings.

My thoughts:

First off the overall presentation is stunning. We get two lovely detailed maps and some internal artwork, and as an added bonus the font is a bit bigger and we’ll spaced (typical of YA) but my poor eyes loved reading it.

The magic is lush (reminds me of Roshani Chokshi but toned down).  It paints the scene whether it’s small, pretty tricks or earth shaking feats of magic. The characters all have unique abilities based off what element they are attracted to.  Bowing dragons made of fire, plant magic, it’s nothing terribly unique but I liked it.

Plus the writing moves constantly forward. There is none of that repetitive inner monologue crap that YA has gotten so notoriously bad about. It’s just so refreshing to read a book that’s always moving forward. Another thing that I really dislike about YA these days is that ever book tends to feature “romance”, and Nightbirds is blessedly light on any of that content! There are a few crushes and kisses but NO PINING, it’s just, oh, I wish they were all like this.  

Take a hint publishers, editors, authors: keep the smut in adult books!

There’s enough political plotting to keep it interesting too without boring anyone with deep dive details into any of the government structure. It’s not too hard to figure out who’s in charge and there’s enough betrayal to keep it fresh.

Lastly there are the types of epigraphs that I love reading. Those which add little extras to the culture of the world. Some were tied into the story and some were just there to add flavor but I liked them.

Overall? It’s not perfect but I’ve got no content issues, was never bored, and flew through this book. I can’t wait for the sequel. If all YA was like this I’d read a lot more of it!

Thanks for checking out my book review of Nightbirds by Kate J Armstrong.  I claimed my early finished copy through Bookish First and as always, all opinions are my own ♥️

Categories
Fantasy Paranormal Young Adult

Hex You by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast (Audio & FC Review)

Imagine my surprise when a swag kit showed up for Hex You, including a lovely finished hardcover and audio code!  I have a rocky relationship with Wednesday Books’ content trends so I appreciate their consideration here!!

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I was curious about this series because I’ve seen the Casts all over bookstagram and never read the books, so I am glad to have a chance to do that.  Hex you is the end of a trilogy and seeing as I haven’t read the first two, I can only rate it as a standalone YA urban fantasy

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Seeing as I pretty much live for audiobooks these days, I also want to thank MacMillan Audio for including this audiobook code! It’s only 9 hours and 49 minutes. Cassandra Campbell narrates so many books and she’s very good. I read the first half and listened to the second, and can say I enjoyed it more on audio because the immaturity of the writing and dialogue felt less important while listening.

These stickers were also included!

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Ok let’s talk about the book
  • Title: Hex You
  • Series: Sisters of Salem, #3
  • Authors: P.C. & Kristin Cast
  • Publisher & Release: Wednesday Books, 01/31/23
  • Length: 295 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐✨ for younger readers, I would say 14-17
Here’s the synopsis from Am*zon:

Twin sisters, Mercy and Hunter are witches, direct descendants of the Goode family, the founders of their town. After the murder of their mother at the hands of a foul demon, they have become the protectors of the Gates to different underworlds–ancient portals between their world and realms where mythology rules and the darkest of creatures exist.

Mercy and Khenti are trapped in the Ancient Egyptian Underworld and need Hunter’s help to escape. But while Hunter searches for a way to save them, other evil threatens Goodeville. Amphitrite is still looming–and she wants vengeance against Hunter. With the gates rapidly weakening, Amphitrite lures out a deadly creature and sets it free on the residents of Goodeville. It will take everything in Mercy and Hunter’s power to stop the goddess and seal the gates once and for all

My thoughts:

Overall I have mixed feelings on the book. If you don’t think too hard this is a fairly entertaining and fast paced read. It actually had fairly decent themes for teens. I think you’d get more out of having read the first two books but it was easy to pick up the storyline.

I never got into much YA of this contemporary nature. It strikes me as silly that a powerful goddess would give two shits about antagonizing an American teenager. Amphitrite isn’t a goddess who shows up too much in American literature so that was briefly interesting, then disappointing because there’s not much actual mythology here.  There’s a hodgepodge of different mythologies and underworlds and while it’s not hard to just read and jump into the story, I do think with a background it would (hopefully) all make more sense.

This is where I surrender my safety pin and stop poking holes in the plot, because I could go all day. (This is why I don’t read much YA)

All plot hole poking aside, it wasn’t a bad story.  The dialogue felt immature and the fast pacing felt geared towards younger teens, but then a character casually mentions “bjs” and something about “slut-shaming”, a term which I had to Google.  Apparently we are encouraging teens to sleep around now, so that’s… Uh…what? Besides those two instances the book is tame from a sex and mature content standpoint, but I’d still recommend for older teens.

Themes for teens? One thing I liked. The sisters have to resolve their internal & interpersonal conflicts and choose love over power & selfishness. I liked some of the friendships and the emphasis on doing the right thing after learning from one’s mistakes.  Actions have consequences! 

Character wise, personally I hardly ever enjoy teenage characters anymore.  These felt very teenage and self centered, volatile, and changing their minds every ten seconds, so, like normal teenage girls.  I liked them well enough and assumed that the characters have been established in the prior books, so there wasn’t as much development in this third novel. I won’t hold that against the book.

Xena the cat person familiar and Khenti were my favorites, I did love their dialogue.

So… overall?

Fast paced plot, some good banter, and a snarky cat person. The ending was actually sad as hell to me so I give the authors credit for that. I enjoyed the audiobook and the narrator tampered down the feel of the writing.  It’s a solid YA read with a thankfully cute prologue to take the edge off.

TL: DR – I liked it but it’s definitely geared towards teenagers.

Here is the candle ♥️ thanks again to the publisher for this!

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I obtained my free copy from Wednesday Books and am leaving this honest assessment of the book and materials provided.  As always, all opinions are my own

Categories
audiobooks Fantasy Young Adult

Cursed by Marissa Meyer (Audio & Book Thoughts)

Cursed by Marissa Meyer book cover

The good news is that this book came out in November, and I’m reading it in January! ARCs aside I am nearly caught up with new releases and can start reading my backlog soon.

You can find my review for Gilded here, and now let’s talk about Cursed.

Bookish quick facts:
  • Title: Cursed
  • Series: Gilded #2 (Duology)
  • Author: Marissa Meyer
  • Publisher & Release: Feiwel & Friends, 2022
  • Length: 496 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐ for fans of dark fairy tales and retellings

A quick note on the audio: narrated by Rebecca Soler, at 16.5 hours from MacMillan Audio in 2022

Here’s the synopsis from Am*zon:

Be still now, and I will tell you a tale.

Adalheid Castle is in chaos.

Following a shocking turn of events, Serilda finds herself ensnared in a deadly game of make-believe with the Erlking, who is determined to propel her deeper into the castle’s lies. Meanwhile, Serilda is determined to work with Gild to help him solve the mystery of his forgotten name and past.

But soon it becomes clear that the Erlking doesn’t only want to use Serilda to bring back his one true love. He also seeks vengeance against the seven gods who have long trapped the Dark Ones behind the veil. If the Erlking succeeds, it could change the mortal realm forever.

Can Serilda find a way to use her storytelling gifts for good―once and for all? And can Serilda and Gild break the spells that tether their spirits to the castle before the Endless Moon finds them truly cursed?

Romance and adventure collide in this stunning finale to the Rumpelstilskin-inspired fairy tale

My thoughts:

At this point I’ve read nearly everything that Marissa Meyer has published, and most of it has been consumed by listening to Rebecca Soler.  I’m going to get the annoying thing out of the way first and then talk about all the good things.

The thing is, I think Meyer really had to stretch to make this book 500 pages long.  There was a lot of repetition, a lot of explanation, and while I understand that she wants the reader to get the point, I feel like I would have been more bored if I was reading the text. That said, at this point we know that the Erlking is absolutely evil. Serilda is generally a pretty smart person yet she just kept begging and screaming and crying at him repeatedly over multiple instances, and I just got sick of listening to it.

So parts of both the audio and the text got to me. I just hate people that whine and the audiobook was extremely whiny at times, striking a small nerve.

So on to the positives. I applaud how far and how dark she took this story – even if I felt like the end was a total cop out. I was so devastated by the events leading up to the ending and … I would have just left it.

The lore, stories, action, and characters, were all pretty much on par with the first book.  I liked meeting the gods and monsters and generally appreciated the pacing of the book.  It wasn’t that I was bored, it’s just that the same type of situation between Serilda, the kids, and the king, repeated itself so much that it became more tiresome than shocking.

Not to say that there were not many good parts though. There’s plenty of fierce magic and snarky banter to keep the pages interesting.

TLDR/Overall: All of that said though, I highly recommend reading Cursed if you liked Gilded. It’s just more of everything and it’s difficult to find YA books that are willing to go quite as dark as this series.  With plenty of dark fairytale lore and fantasy imagery, you can’t go too wrong with Meyer.

Thanks for checking out my book and audiobook review for Cursed by Marissa Meyer. I obtained my copy through Libby and as always, all opinions are my own❤️

Categories
audiobooks Fantasy Young Adult

Gilded by Marissa Meyer (Audiobook Review)

I knew it was time to read Gilded now that Cursed is out and my library hold is going to be ready within a few weeks.  I have consumed everything by Meyer on audiobook after discovering Rebecca Soler as her long time narrator. I have no regrets at any point in this arrangement as I loved both author & narrator through Heartless and The Lunar Chronicles and beyond.

Anyway, it was a fun diversion to listen while flying last week. Let’s take a look at the book and then I’ll share my thoughts..

Bookish Quick Facts:

  • Title: Gilded
  • Series: Gilded #1 (Duology)
  • Author: Marissa Meyer
  • Publisher & Release: Feiwel & Friends, 2021
  • Length: 512 pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ for fans of dark fairy tales and retellings

A Quick note on the audio: 16 hours long and narrated by the ever excellent Rebecca Soler. Released in 2021 through MacMillan Audio / MacMillan Young Listeners.  On narration alone I give her a full ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Here’s the synopsis via Am*zon:

Long ago cursed by the god of lies, a poor miller’s daughter has developed a talent for spinning stories that are fantastical and spellbinding and entirely untrue.

Or so everyone believes.

When one of Serilda’s outlandish tales draws the attention of the sinister Erlking and his undead hunters, she finds herself swept away into a grim world where ghouls and phantoms prowl the earth and hollow-eyed ravens track her every move. The king orders Serilda to complete the impossible task of spinning straw into gold, or be killed for telling falsehoods. In her desperation, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to her aid. He agrees to help her… for a price. Love isn’t meant to be part of the bargain.

Soon Serilda realizes that there is more than one secret hidden in the castle walls, including an ancient curse that must be broken if she hopes to end the tyranny of the king and his wild hunt forever

I think it’s fair to begin by saying that Gilded is darker and more along the lines of Heartless and other more typical fantasy books, than say, The Lunar Chronicles was.  Gilded is obviously a Rumpelstiltskin retelling and by far one of the darkest YA books I’ve ever read. Meyer brings in other such lore as The Wild Hunt & The Erlking in order to create a wild fairytale world full of ghosts, curses, undead, trickster gods, and more.

It’s really a dark fairytale in every sense of the genre, and I’m here for it.

Stories about stories are some of my favorite plot lines.  I can’t go into detail without spoilers so I’ll just say that I loved Meyer’s attention to the storytelling and exploration of story itself, and *the twist* was perfect.

I immensely enjoyed the plot although I felt that 500+ pages was way too long.  I liked the lore and stories about the realm and meeting the kids and all the other mystic creatures and world building, but 500 pages just felt like it dragged at times.  I think it’s more noticeable in fairytale retellings too where we know the bare bones of the plot already.  On audio I was ok but I could see where, on page, I would have been glazing over a bit.

The characters are pretty amazing too, I just love all of Meyer’s characters and how Soler brings them to life.  Serilda took a bit to warm up to but eventually I liked her, and was all about Gild.  The kids are cute and seem well written for their ages.

Content wise… a few things besides the length affected the rating. Meyer got to mildly touching on a few topics that I haven’t seen in her books before. Feiwel & Friends is usually good about this but they’re advertising age 12 at the lowest while the book contains mostly fade to black baby making (pools of sunshine and all that), children being found with their hearts eaten out, killing undead fathers, and other horrors… So … Idk, parents use caution.

For me though as an adult I enjoyed the book. Usually Meyer sticks to pretty age appropriate content but as I said, this is a more typical dark fantasy novel than her others.

Overall I think it’s great for those who like characters and curses, stories about stories, dark fairy tales, a twist of romance, and everything else we have come to expect from Meyer.   

Thanks for checking out my book and audiobook review of Gilded by Marissa Meyer. Stay tuned for my thoughts on Cursed soon.  I listened through Libby and as always, all thoughts are my own.

 

Categories
Fantasy Young Adult

The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford (Finished Copy Review)

I liked Mara Rutherford’s prior three books and was psyched to claim an early finished hardcover of The Poison Season via Bookish First. Are you on Bookish First? If not, I think my promo code can get you free points when you sign up so you should totally consider doing that. I’ll post it at the bottom!

This is a rather dark YA fantasy featuring a living, bloodthirsty, wandering forest surrounded by a poisoned lake, and the isolated community that lives within. Let’s take a look at the book first then I’ll share my thoughts!

Bookish Quick Facts:

  • Title: The Poison Season
  • Series: N/A
  • Author: Mara Rutherford
  • Publisher & Release: Inkyard Press, 12/06/22
  • Length: 400 Pages
  • Rate & Recommend: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

Here’s the synopsis:

Outsiders are always given a choice: the Forest or the lake. Either way, they’re never heard from again.

Leelo has spent her entire life on Endla, coexisting with the bloodthirsty Forest and respecting the poisonous lake that protects her island from outsiders who seek to destroy it. But as much as Leelo cares for her community, she struggles to accept that her younger brother will be exiled by his next birthday, unless he gains the magic of enchanted song so vital to Endla.

When Leelo sees a young outsider on the verge of drowning in the lake, she knows exactly what she’s supposed to do. But in a moment that will change everything, Leelo betrays her family, her best friend, and Endla by making an unthinkable choice.

Discovery could lead to devastating consequences for both Leelo and the outsider, Jaren, but as they grow closer, Leelo realizes that not all danger comes from beyond the lake—and they can only survive if Leelo is willing to question the very fabric of her society, her people, and herself.

My thoughts:

This is a rather dark and insulated story about a community that fears outsiders and goes through great lengths to keep them away. I liked the lore and rituals but wanted more of them. Endla is a violent community built on lies and secrets and generational trauma, where the townsfolk have magical singing voices tied to the island and forest. A great premise that I rather enjoyed, so I wish more exploration of this could have taken the place of some of the repetitive ish romantic parts. The micro world building was great and I felt like part of the village, just wanted more of the how and why magic developed as it did.

I liked the first half of the book more than the second half. The first was beautiful, establishing the world and characters, where the second half spent a lot of time on the romance. I liked the characters well enough though, Leelo and Jaren seemed like good people experiencing typical YA book struggles like not feeling up to par with community standards and feeling atypical, dealing with family trauma and secrets, etc. Even the more unlikeable characters like Sage and Ketty I felt like they were, if nothing else, done well.

The book was slow burning but not boring at all, then dumped all the answers towards the end. I generally enjoyed the read (plus the large type font and inner artwork). I actually liked the resolution too and would recommend this one for upper YA as it’s one of the better ones I’ve read recently. If I have to read YA, I’ll take these moody, eerie, atmospheric and borderline spooky books any day.

Overall there’s a great premise that wasn’t quite fully realized, but it was close. I’d recommend for fans of darker YA fantasy that like romance too.

Thanks for checking out my book review of The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford! I claimed a copy with my bookish first points, and as always, all opinions are my own. If you’d like to join bookish first and have a chance towards winning early copies, my referral code bc25a61ba071488b9 can earn you some points to start!