Title: Tithe
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother’s rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms – a struggle that could very well mean her death.
Review: Before reading this, the only thing I’d read from Holly Black was The Darkest Part of the Forest. So, coming into Tithe, I expected something similar in terms of writing and engagement. With this book though, I was not immediately pulled in by Kaye like I was with Hazel, and it took until Black revealed her true nature for me to even be interested in the story (about page 100). That being said, I did read it and like the plot after all, but I wasn’t entranced by Kaye, Corny, or Roiben at all. 3/5 stars.
Category: series
One Dark Throne
Title: One Dark Throne [II/IV]
Author: Kendare Blake
Genre: Fantasy; Young Adult
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) With the unforgettable events of the Quickening behind them and the Ascension Year underway, all bets are off. Katharine, once the weak and feeble sister, is stronger than ever before. Arsinoe, after discovering the truth about her powers, must figure out how to make her secret talent work in her favor without anyone finding out. And Mirabella, once thought to be the strongest sister of all and the certain Queen Crowned, faces attacks like never before—ones that put those around her in danger she can’t seem to prevent.
Review: I have been waiting for this book since I read Three Dark Crowns and literally couldn’t put it down all day. It was exactly like stepping back into the world that Blake has created. Fennbirn was just as I remembered it, but the queens were not. Katharine was haunting and I’m still not super sure what happened to her down in that pit, even after finishing the novel. Mirabella was different too. Arsinoe, since she found out who she was supposed to be, was much more clear. Jules as a character was very different too. Overall I really enjoyed this read but some of the character developments felt forced, much more so than in the first book. The last page is interesting. I’m looking forward to whatever Kendare Blake has in store for us next.
Edit: As I kept thinking about this book, I had to drop my Goodreads rating. I would definitely still recommend it, but the characters I liked most changed in ways that felt completely outside of their character arcs and as I continue to think on it, it’s still bothering me.
*Special thanks to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Shadow & Bone
Title: 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.
Of Poseidon
Title: Of PoseidonAuthor: Anna Banks
Genre: Fantasy; Mermaid
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom… Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.
Review: Part 1 of The Syrena Legacy, ‘Of Poseidon’ is a great text to get struggling readers reading. Romance with a dash of action, this YA novel is fun and a fast read. Because you go from Galen to Emma and back again, you get to know both of them very well. The little girl inside of me that always swam like a fish and wished to be a mermaid loved this book. Everyone who ever feels different wishes they could be part of something bigger and for Emma, she gets just that. Everything she thought she knew about who she was and where she came from gets challenged in this first book of a trio. Galen too, learns that he’s more than just a title.
Completely worth the read!
Of Triton
Title: Of Triton [Book II/III]
Author: Anna Banks
Genre: Fantasy; Shapeshifting; Mermaid; Romance; Myth
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) Emma has just learned that her mother is a long-lost Poseidon princess, and now struggles with an identity crisis: As a Half-Breed, she’s a freak in the human world and an abomination in the Syrena realm below. Syrena law states that all Half-Breeds should be put to death. As if that’s not bad enough, her mother’s reappearance among the Syrena turns the two kingdoms—Poseidon and Triton—against one another. Which leaves Emma with a decision to make: Should she comply with Galen’s request to keep herself safe and just hope for the best? Or should she risk it all and reveal herself—and her Gift—to save a people she’s never known?
Review: Part 2 of The Syrena Legacy, ‘Of Triton’ continues the story of Galen and Emma, entrenched in a family scandal that was before their time. Romeo & Juliet like love with a sense of duty and glory, this YA sequel is a fun and fast read with a dash of romance and coming of age adventure. The main characters and secondary characters take on a whole new set of problems, but the author’s writing invites you to continue on with them, despite the angst, fear, and mystery that surrounds them. Mermaid stories, like werewolf stories, always draw me in, and this continuation doesn’t disappoint!
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children [Book I/III]
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: paranormal; fantasy
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs. A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar… And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.
Review: I read this book while flying back from California last summer. I had a six hour flight to kill, and this was the way to do it. A little bit suspenseful, this book was a fun read. I was so intrigued as I followed Jacob through his adventure. I loved this book but did NOT love the movie. It is SO SO SO SO SO different. So if you’re thinking of cheating yourself here, don’t. Read the book, it’s ALWAYS better.
Jacob as a protagonist is a good lead – you’re following in his footsteps as he learns about his family’s past and his place in the legacy. Everything is not what it seems to be, and Miss Peregrine is a good – but mysterious – tutor. The relationships between characters are thoughtful and sweet, something the movie doesn’t quite to justice to.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Author: John Tiffany
Genre: fantasy; magic;
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
Review: While this wasn’t Harry Potter a la J. K. Rowling, it was part of the universe and it was fun to get back into that universe after so long. I preordered it and read it as soon as I got it. It took me maybe two hours? It’s a fast read. If you thought Harry was a whiny git, you’ll think the same about his son. If you liked Books 1-7, you’ll like it, but you’ll recognize the differences.
Harry Potter was one of those books that ignited a generation in ways that I’ll forever be grateful for. I think I was hoping for that same spark in what people were calling the 8th book. This is definitely not the 8th book. You’re back in the universe, but it feels almost like there’s a veil there that can’t be removed. It’s not the real thing and it’s painfully obvious at times.
All that said, I’m glad I read it.
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
Title: 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.
The Little Stranger
Title: The Little Stranger
Author: Sarah Waters
Genre: Mystery; Gothic
Synopsis: (from Goodreads) The Little Stranger follows the strange adventures of Dr. Faraday, the son of a maid who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country doctor. One dusty postwar summer in his home of rural Warwickshire, he is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life? Little does Dr. Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his.
Review: I compared this book to Wuthering Heights for a class assignment and was surprised by how well written this book was. It’s got a dash of paranormal, a smidgen of mystery, a heaping spoonful of haunted, and a small bit of romance. If you’re interested in a haunted house and a bit of an annoying lead, this book is for you.
Following Dr. Faraday, the reader is allowed access to the Ayres family estate which has seen better days. His narration made me roll my eyes a bit while reading. He’s a grown adult, but stunted by the events of his past, he acts like a whiny child while around the Ayres. He is constantly trying to measure up to the grandeur of their name (or at least what their name used to be) and finds himself falling short all the time. Meanwhile, the Ayres family is going THROUGH some ish. There’s a supernatural element to the house that can’t be explained, an energy that is toxic. This energy leads to a building tension and later, a series of unfortunate events.
If gothic fiction is your thing, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
chelsea usher 