This was a book I supported on kickstarter and I’m so excited to get into it!
What I’m Reading Now: The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy
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Tag Archives: YA
What I’m Reading Now: Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao
This month, our book club’s theme is Leadership. In honor of Black History Month and President’s Day, I decided to read Heavenly Tyrant because it’s based on the first Chinese Empress. At the end of the first book, Zeitan has taken power, but can she keep it?
Review: This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron (Read by Jordan Cobb)
This was so good! While This Poison Heart, book 1 in the series, was a bit of a mystery, this one is more of an adventure. Leaving where the first book left off, they are on a race against time to restore all the pieces of the deadly Absyrtus Heart in order for Briseis to save her Mom. In order to do this, Briseis must rely on blood relatives she didn’t know she had.
These books weave myth in with the modern I absolutely loved them. Briseis is a smart and thoughtful hero and I cheered for her the entire way. I absolutely recommend these! They were so good!
Review: Heir by Sabaa Tahir
I will admit that I didn’t realize that this was a companion series to Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series. I wasn’t made about it. I enjoyed that series. I also didn’t realize it was a duology. I guess I should be grateful it is only two books. Heir takes place twenty years after the end of the previous series. It is told from the perspective of three people. Quil, the Heir to the Martial throne and nephew to the Empress. Aiz, an orphan with some anger issues from a Keger and Sirsha, an outcast hired to track down a killer.
A Few Spoilers for both series ahead.
Laia, Elias and Helene from the An Ember in the Ashes series all appear but as minor roles. This story is about their children or nephews. Quil is the son of former Emperor Marcus and Livia Aquillius and he doesn’t want to be Emperor for fear he will become like his father. Laia and Elias’ son Sufiyan is one of Quil’s closest friends. In a neighboring country, Keger attacks the Martials and Quil must escape to find Tas, his friend and spy to fight back. On the way, he meets Sirsha, a tracker who has been hired to find a killer who is plaguing the Empire. Their objectives align. Aiz is an orphan from Keger, a small country in the south with little connection to the rest of the world but obviously will collide with the other two. I do appreciate an angsty hero and a witty protagonist. Quil and Sirsha are such a great couple. Good Chemistry. About halfway through the book, it is revealed that one of the POVs is not happening in the same timeline as the other two but in an earlier time frame. As soon as I realized that, I knew exactly where the story was going. I wasn’t completely right but I did figure out who the murderer was based on the reveal and clues about this character that I have already learned. I didn’t mind it because the writing made the journey to get to that destination fun. I wanted to know how they turned. My one critique would be that I thought It was a little too long. It kind of dragged on a bit for me but left enough of a cliffhanger that I am looking forward to the next one.
Weekend Reads: Runaways
It is January and the holiday season is over which means most of what is fun about winter is over. Except for the curling up with a good book, that is! Here are some suggestions of stories that involve travel, in case you’re stuck inside thiinking it would be better to be anywhere but here, where ever here is.
Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
Genuine Fraud follows the friendship of Jule and Imogen, in reverse chronicle order, leaving you as the reader to put together the pieces of how the characters ended up where they ended up. The characters go from London, San Francisco, Puerto Rico, Martha’s Vineyard to New York. Sounds like a wild ride to me!
The Caraval Trilogy by Stephanie Garber
The Caraval trilogy is the story of sisters who are obsessed with a magical game. The sisters accept an invitation and travel to the game to find themselves at the center of the game where one of them must search for the other. If she fails, her sister could disappear forever.
The Dispatcher Series by John Scalzi
I never actually wrote a review of these books after I posted them as ‘What I’m Reading’. They’re super interesting. In an alternate timeline, if you are murdered, you turn back up again as you were moments before your death. This is horribly inconvenient for anyone who wants to commit murder, but is obviously nice for potential murder victims. It is also nice for other reasons, like if you are about to die during surgery, your doctors can be given another chance. Dispatchers are people who are officially sanctioned to murder people in certain circumstances. But there is a whole grey area where Dispatchers can also be employed. Zachary Quinn reads the audiobooks and he does an excellent job. These were interesting and enjoyable mysteries. I don’t love that they are exclusively from audible, since I prefer to get things from the library, but this is the world we live in.
What I’m Reading Now: Heir by Sabaa Tahir
Another book I got at Comic-Con this year. I like her Ember in the Ashes series so I’m pretty excited for this new series.
Beth’s Favorite Books of 2024!!!
I read a lot of good books this year. Like many of us, books were a much-needed respite from all the things going on in the world. So, I am forever grateful to all the authors who created the amazing worlds I visited this year.
In no particular order. Here are the books that I loved the most in 2024!
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang – This was such an excellent book. It was a tough read, I am not going to lie because I saw a little bit more of myself in the main character than I would care to admit but that’s a good thing. It’s good to be uncomfortable from time to time because that’s how you learn and ultimately grow. So yes, read this book. Especially if you are a liberally leaning white woman.
What the River Knows and Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibanez – These were a fun series. It really is a mix of The Mummy (1999 version) and Death of the Nile. I loved the dynamic between the main character and her love interest. It was a mix of adventure, romance and mystery. What the River Knows was so much fun, I had to immediately read the sequel Where the Library Hides. It just hit all the right notes for me.
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan – What if you could become a character in your favorite story? Sounds like fun, right? It is, at least to me. Rae may disagree as to where she ends up at the end of the book, but it is so much fun. A lot of humor and all the fantasy tropes that readers expect. I can’t wait for the sequel to come out.
Assistant to the Villain and Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer – Both of these books were so funny. I think I picked this up on a whim because it sounded interesting, and I am so glad that I did. It is just the right kind of humor I like. It is so ridiculous I love it.
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy – The only non-fiction title on my list. Okay, it might have been the only non-fiction book I read this year, but I digress. Jennette’s story is heartbreaking because so much of the pain in her life was caused by her mother. How she handling it all now is admirable. I only wish the best for her.
The Familiar – Leigh Bardugo – Magic, mystery, betrayal. It is all here. I loved the atmosphere of the story. Leigh Bardugo is such a great writer. She paints such great portraits in her books. If you are looking for a standalone fantasy novel, You can’t go wrong with this one.
Spoiler Alert, All the Feels and Ship wrecked by Olivia Dade – I love them all. The Spoiler Alert trilogy follows three different couples from a TV show. All of them are relatable and easy to cheer for. I also love the fan fiction part of the stories.
Starter Villain by John Scalzi – Another hilarious book. I have never read John Scalzi before but I might have to after this. The absurdity of the books is amazing. Like I need this to be a movie or TV show because it would be awesome.
A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan – I was introduced to Sophie Jordan from her first dragon books, so I was happy she’s back to writing dragons. There are some similarities to the last series, but I am not mad about it. It was a very fast read, and I didn’t want it to end. It’s a good thing the sequel is coming out next year.
Those were my favorite books of this year. After going through my list, I see a theme of comedic books. I obviously needed the laughs, and I am probably going to need the laughs next year. What were your favorite books of this year?
What I’m Listening to now: This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron (narrated by Jordan Cobb)
Quick Review: This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
This is the story of Briseis, a young woman who has the magic touch when it comes to plants. She receives a surprise inheritance and she and her Moms move to a grand house in Rhinebeck, New York. She discovers secrets and mysteries in the house.
This was so fun. I was so interested to what happened next that I wanted to keep listening. It also inspired me to start a little knitting project, which I was able to finish while I was listening. These little wrist warmers with their falling leaves are so cozy.
Back to the book, I was delighted by the characters and their growth through the story. This is a series and I’ve already requested the next one from the library!
Book Haul: New York Comic Con Edition
Last weekend I went to New York Comic Con and the Javits Center. Always a good time but damn, is it exhausting. I truly cannot express how big the Javits Center is. I went on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Attended a few panels. My favorite was a Talk with Tomi Adeyemi, writer of the Orisha Trilogy, and the Futurama panel. I also spent way too much and included books. Here are a few new titles I picked up.
First, I got this mystery bag at the Simon and Schuster booth. I believe I got the Romantasy mystery bag. I haven’t heard of any of the titles before but I’m excited to read more.
Simon and Schuster were also giving away books. I was able to snag this one. I have never read any R.A. Salvatore before but this looks pretty cool.
I have read great things about Heir and liked Sabaa Tahir’s work in the past so I had to buy it. What the River knows was described as the Mummy meets a Death on the Nile and I was like, “I’m in”. Not to mention I got a pin with it.
They were giving away the ARC to Amelie Wen Zhao’s next book when purchasing her latest. Why not get a book about dragons and get another for free.
So that’s all the books I got and NYCC this year. I can’t wait to read them.
2 Women, So Many Books 