Tag Archives: fantasy

Review: The Children by Melissa Albert

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When I read the synopsis of this book, it reminded me of another book about a child of an author, who wrote them in their book. It took me a moment to realize that book was also written by Melissa Albert. She has a niche. This book was different. Guinevere and Ennis’ mother was a famous author who used their names and likeness as inspiration. The world started to know them as their characters. Over the years, Guin leaned into it, but Ennis didn’t. As idyllic their life seemed from the outside, it was anything but in reality. They lived in a farmhouse in Vermont. Their mom was mostly absent even though she was there, and their father was more visible but also an alcoholic and adulterer. The story goes back and forth between the present, where Guin is releasing a memoir, and Ennis decides to have a surprise art exhibition, and the past during their childhood. In the present, the siblings haven’t seen each other for over a decade, and Guin is starting to remember things about her childhood that she has forgotten or had blocked out. When she was 11 and Ennis was 13, both of their parents died in a house fire. Just weeks before their mother was to publish the fifth book in the six-book series. So how did these two become estranged? It’s not a simple story. I really liked how the story is set up. I felt like I could see the farmhouse and the freedom they felt, especially in the early years. It was disheartening watching Guin lose her innocence and her brother being more of a parent to her than her actual parents were. It does have a magical element, but most of the book is very rooted in reality. I don’t know how I feel about the ending, though. I will have to sit on it a bit longer, but all in all, it was a good book and worth giving it a shot.

Review: When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

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Raeve is my kind of psycho killer. Okay, she’s not psycho, but also not fully sane either. She definitely is feisty, which is always a good trait in a heroine. She is a paid killer for a rebellion group in the Fade. She does her job well. Until a truly heinous man kills her friend, and she goes on a killing spree, gets caught, and is sentenced to death. Enter Kaan. The King of the Burn. He rescues her because, you wouldn’t you know, she’s his long-lost love thought to be dead. Yes. That is kind of a spoiler but also pretty obvious from the get-go. They do have a lot of fun banter between the two of them. You can see how, in a different time, they would be drawn to each other. This book has a lot of world-building. So much that it comes with a glossary and cast of characters at the very beginning of the book. It does take a few chapters to figure out the world, but once things all fall into place, it’s a very quick read. It’s an almost 700-page book that I read in less than a week. I am very interested to find out how Raeve became Raeve because it is very far from where she began. The ending introduces a new villain that I am not sure was needed, as there were already some pretty good bad guys, but hey, what do I know. I will just have to wait until the next book.

Review: All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan

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Chaos indeed. I really enjoy Sarah Rees Brennan. She has written so many different kinds of books, and yet they are all well thought out and well crafted. I always get lost in the world. Much like Rae, who is actually lost in the world. Okay, she isn’t lost. She knows where she is, but she failed to get out of the book when she had the chance and now the narrative of the story is out of order. Rae tries to make the most of the situation. If she can get the story back on track. Make the Key the hero, she can get back home, but the thing the story wants what it wants, and the more she tries to change it, the more it fights back. I do love the exploration of Villain vs. Hero. Rae’s character is written to be a villain because she is seen to be promiscuous and manipulative, but the King in the previous book was just the same way, and he was considered a hero to many. Key has done some pretty inexcusable things, but he is also a man that poor and told his whole life he was bad and wouldn’t amount to anything, so is it really shocking that now he is living up to it? It goes deeper than that, but I hope you get the gist. The two books together are just a fun story of people trying to navigate complicated circumstances and trying to make it better. It’s well written, and the world-building is so on point. That even though I have never read the book she is lost in, I feel as though I have. And that ending! I do love a good cliffhanger, but damn girl. The game has really changed and sets up a pretty exciting finale.

Review: A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

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In the description of this book, they call it cozy, and it is. Reading it was like being wrapped in a warm blanket, even while reading on the subway. Sera was one of the most powerful witches in Britain, and then she cast a spell to resurrect her aunt, who died suddenly when she was a teenager. Fifteen years later, she is running her family’s Inn, housing the most unusual lodgers. There is a nosy, gardener, Matilda, Nicholas, who believes he is a real-life knight, a witch, cursed to live as a Fox and the Inn it’s self. Before she lost her powers, she magic’d the inn could only be found by those who needed it. Enter Luke and her sister Posey. Luke has taken responsibility for raising Posey, who is autistic. A smart girl, but she doesn’t understand why she has to hide her magic. Luke is also a historian who happens to arrive when Sera comes into possession of a spell to get her magic back. It is written in a language that not a lot of people know, but Luke does. This book touches on found family, depression, abuse, rascism and discrimination. Sera is half Icelandic and half Indian, and that alone is enough to ostracize her, but then she had all this power, and she didn’t, and was exiled from other witches. When once was once an apprentice to the other most powerful witch, and he was threatened by her power. He used his power not only to bully her but also others as well. He made sure that when she was exiled, no one would ever help her. Sera used to think that what made her worthy was her powers, but over time, she learns that she is more than her powers. Her new family may be unconvential but they truly love her, and she truly loves them. They are all a bit crazy, but it is also what makes each character so lovable. No one was one-dimensional. They all got their own little story arch and even if the ending is a little bit heartbreaking, it was still lovely because no matter what happens. They have each other, and that is worth more than all the powers and magic in the world.

Review: Fate Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

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I do love an unabashedly good fantasy novel. Multiple POV’s, magic, mythical creatures, an obvious bad guy, and an obvious good guy. Coryane and crew are in retreat and spread across the ward after the attack against Taristan goes very wrong. All is not lost, though. Coryane survived and has Taristan’s sword. Andrey has made allies with Valtik’s people. Charlie finds a spin, and Dom, Sigil, and Sorasa, have wreaked havoc on Erida’s castle. In the first half of the novel, our heroes are separated from each other and have to work to get back together. This gives each character a chance to grow and come into their own. For Corayne it was finding the strength in herself. She discovered that not only can she take care of herself, but she can also inspire others to help. This found family is strong, and they show that throughout the story. They may despair at times, but they never question each other. As for Erida and Taristan. We start to see a role reversal in them. Erida, becomes more obsessed with power and will do anything to get it. Taristan, was once like that, but discovered that Erida was the one thing he would give up power for. Twists and turns throughout the book kept me invested and had a satisfying ending to an entertaining trilogy. I look forward to what Victoria Aveyard does next.

Review: Red City by Marie Lu

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This is actually the third YA author making their adult novel debut that I have read this year. If you think about it, it makes sense. They have all been writing for over a decade. They are growing with their readers, who at this point are adults themselves. I have read many of Lu’s books in the past, and they have all been very different but still grounded in reality. Red City is no different. It follows Sam and Ari, who meet in high school and find themselves on alternate sides of a turf war. Sam is an immigrant who came to Angel City with her single mother. They have struggled to make ends meet until Sam gets an offer to join the Grand Central syndicate. Sam is a resourceful girl who can remember everything she sees and reads, but her real ability is that she can move through the world almost invisibly. People don’t seem to notice her or forget her as soon as they turn around. Ari is also an immigrant who was brought to Angel City by the Lumines syndicate after being noticed. He is always noticed. It doesn’t matter what he is doing, people always watch him, notice him, want to be his friend or more. They bond over their own loneliness and the opposing ability, not knowing that each are alchemist. In this world, Alchemy is a real ability that people possess and is mostly run by the syndicates and organized crime. Diamond Taylor and her husband discover the Philosopher’s Stone and use it to create a new drug called sand. From this, Grand Central was born. Sand heightens a person’s best and worst qualities. It makes a beautiful actress more beautiful, but it also makes someone who is depressed more depressed. Sand is only made through alchemy, hence why organized crime pretty much only employs them. Years after Sam and Ari graduate and have gone their separate ways, they reunite only to find they are on opposing sides of the sand distribution fight. A true Romeo and Juliet story. They still have feelings for each other, so you can imagine how much they struggle with their new situation. As things start to unravel, they have to figure out who they are, but also how far they want to go. I truly love how morally ambiguous Sam is. She knows she has done some pretty terrible things, but she also can’t deny that she kind of likes it. The power she gets from her position is something that she has been looking for in her own life. How can she leave? Ari is more of a compromised hero. He didn’t choose to join the Lumines the way Sam chose to join the Grand Central. He was brought to the US for a new life and a better life for his family. It does make for an interesting dynamic because the roles are usually reversed. I didn’t know it was a series until after I started reading, and I am glad. There is so much to explore with these two characters, and if the first book is any indication, we are in for a ride.

Review: Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber

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**Contains some Spoilers**

This book started off so intensely and then lost steam. Holland is a graduate student. I can’t even remember if she is pursuing her Master’s or a PhD. I don’t think they even say what for. Only something to do with myths and urban legends. Her professor teaches a secret class about urban legends that may be true, and Holland is her best student. One night, she decides to go down a shady alley in search of one of the legends and brings along someone she is dating. The next day, she is called in to meet the new professor, Adam Bishop, who tells her that Professor is no longer her mentor and is a liar. Then the guy she was dating dies at the exact time the legend tells him, and she only has 24 hours to live. She can prolong her life if she finds the Alchemical Heart that no one has ever seen or knows what it looks like or knows where it is. Enters Gabe, a random guy who deactivates her car and says her twin sister sent him to protect her. They start to follow clues that lead them to a mysterious bank that is also part of a legend from her class. She finds out that her professor runs the bank and needs her to give her the heart once she finds it. Oh, and Gage may have killed his wife for powers. So she runs away from Gabe and runs into Adam, who also says that he was sent by her sister to protect her. And off they go following clues until the big reveal at the end. It’s roughly around the time that Holland starts searching with Adam that I felt the lack of urgency that was in the first half of the book. I can’t say why, I felt that way, but yeah. Things start to slow down for me. Not to spoil too much, but the resolution left some questions. It never really answered why Gabe was looking for the heart or what happened between him and his wife. Like, why bring it up and all? We never find out which one her sister sent to help her, if any, or what her sister’s role is in all of this. She is obviously part of this world, but it feels like she is pulling more of the strings than anything else. It wasn’t a bad book, but it just left me unsatisfied. It started out so good. I just wish it could have kept up the momentum.

Review: The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy

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The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy was so good; I tore through it. In a world where only women can be witches, Lorel, who has always been seen as a boy and who wants to be a witch, agrees to take her friend Lane’s place when the witches come to collect Lane. What unfolds is a story of magic, identity exploration, friendship, magic, grief, joy, and growth. The witches must find the source of a plague, the colddead, that is spreading across the land or else they will take the blame for it and probably be destroyed. To do this, they must trace the source of the magic of the Sapling Cage, a golden cage with a magical sapling in it that allows anyone, not just witches, to do magic.

Lorel is a delightful character and excellent narrator. Her friends, the other whelps who have also recently joined the witches, were interesting and varied and the whole thing made for a good story. I pledged to the kickstarter campaign for this book, which is why I have an actual physical copy. I don’t buy a lot of books anymore. The only thing I find disappointing about it is that it is the first in the series and now I have to wait for the next one to come out.

Weekend Reads: Libraries

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The library is one of my favorite places. I get more than half my books from there. This week I had to stop at the library on the way home from work and a friend commented on how that was unusual. He didn’t know a lot of people that still go to the library. (He is more of a libby person, which counts as also going to the library to me.) So, I thought this weekend would be a good time to celebrate the library. So, here are three picks where libraries feature in the plot.

Babel by R. F. Kuang

In a world where there is magic and it is found in bits of meaning that never quite get translated, Robin finds himself whisked away to England from his home in Canton so that he can prepare to go to the prestigious translation school at the University of Oxford. This is a thoughtful and devastating look at colonialism and the struggle that everyone, particularly those from outside of the colonial core, must face when they consider what is lost or gained by contributing to the empire. I loved this book and if you like dark academia vibes that make you really consider the world, this a pick for you.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Beth and I both loved this one. In fact, this is one that I have both gotten from the library (audiobook) and from Beth’s shelves. This story follows Lazlo Strange, an orphan and a dreamer, who is raised by monks and grows up to be a librarian. During his studies, he falls in love with the stories of another place, Weep, that has a tragic history that is slowly revealed as part of the novel. When an envoy from Weep comes to his city, Lazlo does everything he can in order to become part of the delegation that will return to Weep. Strange is such a lovely soul. This was an interesting story with romance and terror and gods and monsters. If you like stories that include their own mythology, this is one for you.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

I picked this up on the recommendation of my friend Cristin (further recommended by the audiobook including narration from one of my favorite readers, Bahni Turpin), this is another adventure with its own mythology. Our protagonist, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, is a grad student who studies video games and takes some time in between semesters to indulge in one of his favorite hobbies, reading. Everyday he goes to the library and picks up some books that catch his attention. He finds in the stacks a mysterious book that doesn’t seem to be catalogued correctly and he’s launched into an adventure that takes him everywhere and nowhere. There are assassins, thieves, different timelines, lost cities, bees, secret societies, and so much more. This is a story that has stories inside of its stories and it is a wild ride.

So, there you have it. Three books that feature libraries because libraries are always strange and magical places. Do you have a favorite book that is either set in a library or features a library or librarian? Let us know in the comments!