Category: romance

Shadow & Bone

Image result for shadow and boneTitle: Shadow and Bone
Author:  Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Fantasy; Action; Magic; Romance;
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. … With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Review: Full disclosure. I picked this up, read 45 pages, and then put it down for NINE MONTHS. I bought it on Black Friday and didn’t pick it up again until July. I wasn’t pulled in to read it all in one sitting like I normally am with books but when I picked it back up again, just….

Wow. This book is full of amazing things. It’s got the action and fantasy elements I was looking for but it was also grounded and real. Alina felt like a fully developed character — one who makes mistakes, makes bad decisions. She didn’t immediately have all the right answers and she didn’t get saved over and over again by things or people planted by the author. It wasn’t a romance book masquerading as a fantasy novel. There was romance though. It fit the storyline for sure, but the book isn’t revolved around the love story, instead, it’s about Alina and her journey. Can’t wait to read book two.

Caraval

Image result for caravalTitle: Caraval
Author: Stephanie Garber
Genre: Fantasy; Magic; Romance
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) Remember, it’s only a game… Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation to Caraval finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner. Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away.
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend. We’d read The Night Circus together and she’d heard this was the next best thing. I LOVED Caraval. The magic and twists and suspense was out of this world. I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here. My favorite part of this book was how Garber wrote her characters. As a reader, you can’t trust anything Scarlett thinks and feels and the writing style adds so much to that. Everything, even the ending (OMG!) is written with a dramatic flair. From character development to setting the scene, this book is a sheer delight.

The Darkest Part of the Forest

Image result for the darkest part of the forestTitle: The Darkest Part of the Forest
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy; Magic
Synopsis: (from Goodreads)  Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once. At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking. Until one day, he does… As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?
Review: I read this book before leaving for summer vacation last year and fell in love with the fantasy genre again. I hadn’t read much in this genre since Harry Potter and then realized how much I loved it (hence why I have a TON of fantasy books on this blog). Hazel is a fun character to follow. She acts like a typical teenage girl — and I think I’d know, since I’ve been one and work with them on the daily). You’ll be interested to know that this is more than just a story about a teenage girl. This is about a character who wants to save the world. It’s got magic and a bit of romance and a bit of drama and then more magic.

Hazel becomes the knight she once pretended to be in order to save everything she knows and the ones she loves. The faeries aren’t always the benevolent sprites that grant wishes and leave a trail of glitter in their wake – sometimes they want to cause harm, create mischief. Sometimes girls like Hazel need to remind them of the power of humanity.

Three Dark Crowns

Image result for three dark crowns: Three Dark Crowns [Book I/II]
Author: Kendare Blake
Genre: Fantasy; Magic
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions. But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.
Review: I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH. This book switches POVs (points of view) to follow each queen for a chapter or two before moving on, which allows us to learn a little about the personalities of each of the queens before we pick a queen to root for at Beltane. Each one is different, but all of them are fun and engaging. Throughout the book, you meet a series of side characters that help each queen become who she is. I’m definitely on Team Arsinoe!

You have to read to the very last page…

The Prince of Wolves

Image result for prince of wolvesTitle: Prince of Wolves [Book I/V in the Grey Wolves Series]
Author: Quinn Loftis
Genre: fantasy
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) Jacque Pierce was just an ordinary 17-year-old girl getting ready to start her senior year in high school in Coldspring, Texas. When a mysterious foreign exchange student from Romania moves in across the street, Jacque and her two best friends, Sally and Jen, don’t realize the last two weeks of their summer are going to get a lot more interesting.
Review: This is a fast and easy read for those of you interested in finding something fun. If you liked Twilight, you’ll like this. If you didn’t like Twilight because you hated Bella, you’ll also like this. In fact, while I’m not SURE about it, I think this could be a fanfic based on Twilight. There is a main lead, (Jacque/Bella) with two girl friends (Jen/Rose; Sally/Alice), and three boys (Fane/Edward; Decebel/Emmett; Costin/Jasper). If that’s your jam, go for it. If it isn’t, don’t be turned away by this — this is a good shapeshifting novel series that are all free on iBooks / Android library!

I selected it for that very reason — a free iBook is not something I easily dismiss when I’m scrolling through at midnight looking for an easy read. The werewolf / shapeshifter trope is a particular favorite of mine, so I always click “Download.” Sometimes this works against me, but not with this series. While the characters aren’t given a ton of amazing character development, Jacque is a more developed lead than Bella ever was — given a strength and foundation that makes her feel real. The love story is cute and very high school -esque, but it’s a YA shapeshifter, so it’s exactly what I was expecting.

The dynamic between the friendships is strong and beautiful, there’s no betrayal or jealously between Jacque, Jen, and Sally, just an easy friendship that kind of ties the whole story together.