Tag: YA

Book Review: The Sign of the Raven, by Pippa Dunn

Image belongs to Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers.

Title: The Sign of the Raven
Author: Pippa Dunn
Genre: YA, fantasy
Rating: 3 out of 5

LONDON, 1889.

Ashlyn Threadneedle leads a double life. By day she works as a government messenger. By night she escapes into vivid lucid dreams, navigating the Stream—a world in which the only boundary is her own imagination. But when her long-dead mother unexpectedly appears in a dream, Ashlyn is certain the Stream is hiding secrets, ones that contradict everything she knew about her past—and threaten to undo the future of everyone she loves.

In her quest for answers, she joins the Corvi Signum, a secret society of dreamers fighting to protect the Stream from an insidious enemy powerful enough to manipulate people’s thoughts and seize control of London. For Ashlyn to have any hope of preserving her own mind, she must first unravel the mysteries of both her family and the Stream. But a world of dreams is a treacherous place. Time slips backward and forward as easily as sand through an hourglass, and if Ashlyn and her fellow dreamers fail in their mission, then nowhere—neither waking nor sleeping—will be safe.

I liked the premise of this. I did not care for the reality and execution of it. It felt very disjointed and uneven. Some of that may have been from the Stream and how fluid time was, but…events just didn’t feel smoothly connected to each other and the characters felt very surface level. Paper dolls, more or less.

Pippa Dunn is an English teacher. Sign of the Raven is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Fallen Beauty, by Astrid Scholte

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books.

Title: Fallen Beauty
Author: Astrid Scholte
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Rating: 3.25 out of 5

Eighteen-year-old Thorelea Winyard has been a prisoner her entire life, forced to paint dead animals pushed into her cell. She dreams of the world outside her tower and everything she’s been denied. When one of her subjects comes back to life, Thorelea is thrust into a royal court where she can have anything she desires—aside from her freedom.

Here, she learns that the king and queen have ruled for centuries; their immortality is gifted through the power of their court painter, who dutifully updates their magical portraits. It is also here that she meets the sole other mortal of the court: Prince Kelter. Desperate to become immortal so he can join the ranks of the battalion waging war against a neighboring kingdom, he offers her a deal. Thorelea will paint the portrait Prince Kelter has been denied by his parents, and he will help her escape from the ruthless royal court.

They meet each night in secret. As they grow closer, they must face the monstrous realities of Thorelea’s powers. Will she be forced to choose between her heart and her freedom?

Honestly, I’d give this one a pass, if I had it to do over again. Very clunky, erratic, and half of it didn’t even make sense. The premise was great. The execution was…not. I’m not even sure why I finished it. I didn’t care for the characters. The world was flat. Even the history and resolution felt surface-level.

Astrid Scholte lives in Australia. Fallen Beauty is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Sunderworld, Vol. 2: The Unfortunate Responsibilities of Leopold Berry

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Title: Sunderworld, Vol. 2: The Unfortunate Responsibilities of Leopold Berry
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: YA, Sci-fi
Rating: 4 out of 5

The magic was failing. The monsters were coming. Sunder was desperate for a hero, and Leopold Berry was certain he’d been chosen to save it.

He was wrong.

After flunking his channeler test in spectacular fashion and getting kicked out of Sunder in record time, Leopold swore he was done with magic for good—until a trail of clues from his late mother dragged him back in, then led him to a mysterious ring that might just be the most powerful object in magical history. If only he can figure out how the damn thing works.

Now the walls are closing in.

Famous in Sunder for all the wrong reasons, Leopold is being stalked by paparazzi, threatened by government agents determined to get their hands on the ring, and hunted by terrifying creatures hungry for its power. His only hope is to learn to wield the ring before someone kills him for it and then use it to uncover his family’s buried connection to Sunder before the trail goes cold—and the magical world collapses around him.

Because the magic is still failing. The monsters are everywhere. And Sunder still needs a hero.

With loyal friends Emmet and Isabel at his side, Leopold must decide who he can trust in a city built on illusion—and whether the kid who was never chosen is willing to risk everything for the world that didn’t want him.

Welcome back to Sunderworld.

This was a fun continuation of the Sunderworld story. Still a bit campy, like Labyrinth, but fun. The friendship is my favorite part. Leopold and Emmett are so natural together, with them bouncing ideas and quips off each other. Such a believable long-lasting friendship. This was definitely a fun read.

Ransom Riggs lives in L.A. Sunderworld, Vol. 2: The Unfortunate Responsibilities of Leopold Berry is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin Young Readers Group | Dutton Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Worst Is Yet to Come, by Trish Lundy

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR).

Title: The Worst Is Yet to Come
Author: Trish Lundy
Genre: YA
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

High school might be officially over, but the real nightmare is just beginning. When two best friends are attacked on graduation night, only one of them makes it out alive.

Left for dead at an abandoned house but determined to find out who killed her best friend, Rose is rescued by former high school quarterback and heartthrob, Jake, who becomes an unexpected ally. . . and maybe something more. But when she learns that fifteen years ago, another girl suffered the exact same fate in the exact same place, she wonders if a murderer might be back with a vengeance. . . or is a copycat killer on the loose?

Time is running out, because whoever the killer is, they’re eager to correct their biggest letting Rose live. As Rose follows the trail of evidence, she’s led down a path of horrors that threatens to expose the insidious secrets at the heart of her community—secrets the killer will do anything to keep quiet.

This was…a decent read. It wasn’t horrible and I didn’t figure out what was going on before the reveal, but I wasn’t on the edge of my seat, either. There were a few decent red herrings and I did question Rose’s headspace a time of two—why would you visit an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night? Why?—and some of her decisions seemed a bit like a horror movie character who you just know is about to die, but this was a quick, entertaining read.

Trish Lundy lives on the West Coast. The Worst Is Yet To Come is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: A Lovely and Deadly Dance, by Claire Andrews

Image belongs to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Title: A Lovely and Deadly Dance
Author: Claire Andrews
Genre: Historical fiction, mystery
Rating: 3.0

Something is stalking the queen of England, and Irene Adler is ready to find whatever monster may lurk behind this new gruesome string of murders—with or without the help of Sherlock Holmes.

Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes were both sent away from Oxford’s All Souls class after uncovering a murderous plot on campus. But now Irene’s deductive skills have called her back to England. Someone is killing off the queen’s closest allies and leaving mysterious messages at every crime scene.

The people of London are frightened—and growing angry. Could the murders be Queen Victoria’s fault, or is she the one in the most danger? With Sherlock’s help once more, Irene will follow leads that bring her deep into the secrets held by England’s richest families. The spark between the pair ignites and burns ever hotter all the while.

But the closer Irene gets to finding the killer’s identity, it becomes clear that it’s not a truth she wants to face. To prove herself an Adler, not a Moriarty, Irene will need to overcome the worst betrayal of her life. Can she endure true heartbreak if it’s for the greater good?

I don’t know, this just felt off to me. Kind of erratic, kind of juvenile, kind of dark in spots, but nothing consistent throughout. I finished it, so it kept my attention somewhat, but I was glad to put it down. The story jumped from plot point to plot point, but there wasn’t any transition between events, so it felt clunky and didn’t flow.

Claire Andrews was raised in Alaska and Scotland. A Lovely and Deadly Dance is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry, by Ransom Riggs

Image belongs to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Dutton Books for Young Readers.

Title: Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: Fantasy, sci-fi
Rating: 4 out of 5

Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won’t leave him alone. Every hallucinatory moment seems plucked from a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max’s Adventures in Sunderworld—and that’s because they are.

Not a good sign.

In the blurry weeks after his mother’s death, a young Leopold discovered VHS tapes of its one and only season in a box headed for the trash—and soon became obsessed. Losing himself in Sunder was the best way to avoid two things: grieving his mother and being a chronic disappointment to his overbearing father. But when the strange visions return—at the worst possible time on the worst possible day—Leopold turns to his best friend Emmet for help. Together they discover that Sunder is much more than just an old TV show, and that Los Angeles is far stranger than they ever imagined. And soon, he’ll realize that not only is Sunderworld real, but it’s in grave danger.

Certain he’s finally been chosen for greatness, Leopold risks everything to claim his destiny, save the world of his childhood dreams, and prove once and for all that he’s not the disappointment his father believes him to be. But when everything goes terribly, horribly, excruciatingly wrong, Leopold’s disappointments prove to be more extraordinary than he ever could have imagined.

How do you battle darkness when no one believes in you—not even yourself?

Welcome to Sunderworld.

I found this to be a fun read! I felt kind of like the movie Labyrinth—which, yes, I did love—campy, fun, with a touch of magic. Was it totally believable? No, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the read. This was a quick read, entertaining, and didn’t require a lot of brain power to follow. I recommend it for a fun weekend read, and I look forward to reading more in this world.

Ransom Riggs lives in L.A. Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry is the first book in the Sunderworld series.

(Galley courtesy of PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Dutton Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.)

The Gods Will Sing Our Song, by Autumn Krause

Image belongs to Random House Children’s Books | Delacorte Press.

Title: The Gods Will Sing Our Song
Author: Autumn Krause              
Genre: historical fiction, YA   
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

A divine favor can change everything.

1942. War rumbles across the world, gods stir in the wind, and two lives are set on a collision course that will change them forever.

Seventeen-year-old Ren Hamada has always been defined by his troubled past, while Violet Aratani has only ever worried about keeping her straight-A grades and helping her parents run their beloved print shop. The two have little in common beyond the old magic that thrums in their worn family relics—and the fact that they’re Japanese American in a country determined to cast them as the enemy.

Forced out of their homes and into ramshackle wooden barracks in the California desert by the US government, Ren and Violet collide. In a barbed wire world where everything they thought they knew is upside-down, the magnetic pull between them is the only thing that makes sense.

But there’s more than just desert dust swirling in the air. A god walks among them, his mortal form tethered to the camp, and only Violet and Ren hold the key to freeing him—an act that would earn them an immeasurable reward. Yet with tensions rising and their lives on the line, is even a divine favor powerful enough to save them?

I do love World War II-era historical fiction, but this dealt with something I haven’t read much about. Parts of it were horrifying and sad. Parts of it were inspiring, magical, and full of hope. I loved both Ren and Violet and found the mythology in the story fascinating. Even the secondary characters were vivid and had me emotionally attached. This is a solid read that I enjoyed very much.

Autumn Krause is from L.A. The Gods Will Sing Our Song is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House Children’s Books | Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Hell to Pay, by Lora Beth Johnson

Image belongs to Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers.

Title: Hell to Pay
Author: Lora Beth Johnson    
Genre: YA, fantasy
Rating: 3 out of 5 

Elle Fields comes from a long line of thieves who specialize in breaking into the Afterlife to steal secrets—and magic—from the dead. But after her parents’ disappearance and her brother’s death, Elle is left adrift, without even her crew to rely on.

Until a mysterious stranger offers her a job she can’t stealing a soul from the Afterlife. If Elle can get it done, it could be the key to restoring the life she lost.

The only problem is getting her crew back together. Oh, and the fact that the job’s impossible—but Elle is confident that she’ll be able to work it all out.

After all, how hard could it be to raise the dead?

I almost DNFed this. The heist aspect kept me reading. I feel like there was too much going on with the setting/world building:  the gods, life/death/afterdeath, magic, the different gangs (for lack of a better word)…just a lot. That got in the way of the story. Elle was…almost unlikable to me. I enjoyed her snark, but her personality sucked. I’m still on the fence about this one, and I wouldn’t want to read more in this world.

Lora Beth Johnson lives in North Carolina. Hell to Pay is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin Young Readers Group | G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The River She Became, by Emily Varga

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books.

Title: The River She Became
Author: Emily Varga              
Genre: Fantasy, YA  
Rating: 4 out of 5

I’m going across the River. And I’m going to save us all.

Yaseema is a brilliant scholar and loyal servant of the Empire—or so they think. By day, she catalogs the fae relics of her conquered kingdom. But by night, she reclaims the artefacts in secret to restore magic to her dying land.

Until she finds the long lost key to cross the River into the fae world and save her people. But a ruthless realm awaits her there, ruled by monsters wearing beautiful skin—especially the cold-eyed captain who sees through her lies. But even he isn’t what he seems—under the guise of upholding a cruel regime, he works to overthrow it from the inside. To succeed, he needs the same lost relic Yaseema the crown of an ancient Fae Queen.

With magic that is a mystery even to her, Yaseema can help him find the crown and save his family from a fate worse than death. Unless she steals it first to help her own.

To survive, they must work together to outwit ancient curses, battle creatures born of nightmares, and find a power that could resurrect their worlds. But as secrets unravel and loyalties blur, they face the greatest danger of losing their heart to each other.

I enjoyed this read. It felt unique and fresh, and I liked the characters and the world. The magic was interesting, too. Several layers of conflict happening at once, plus the enemies-to-lovers trope helped keep me engaged. I never totally understood the different factions and politics of what was going on, but this was still a solid read.

Emily Varga is a bestselling author. The River She Became is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:     When Dealing with Dragons, by Dana Swift  

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Title: When Dealing with Dragons
Author: Dana Swift            
Genre: YA  
Rating: 4.2 out of 5

Copper-crafter Farren Walsh is set on following in her father’s footsteps to become a dragon veterinarian. The only thing more powerful than her love for these magnificent creatures is her hate for those who exploit them for their precious metal. That includes her classmate, an arrogant dragon racer named James Murphy, whose silver-crafting family represents the worst of human greed and dragon abuse―plus, he’s the biggest competition for the college scholarship she desperately needs.

When James strongarms his way into interning at her family’s dragon sanctuary for the summer, it puts everything at risk. Farren isn’t just the plain copper-crafter she seems. She’s hiding a secret that could not only change her life, but their society as a whole. And James, trying to find refuge from his controlling father, harbors his own secret, years-long crush on Farren. Hating James might be harder than she thought, but Farren can’t risk getting too close: the fate of an endangered species is at stake.

This was a cool world/culture. A little dark—the descaling and the class hierarchy—but I really enjoyed the world. The history of the different types of dragons, the way they made metal, the characters, all this combine to make a unique read, and one I really enjoyed. I liked both James and Farren (and Farren’s family) and enjoyed getting to know them more and watching them change. I’d love to read more in this world.

Dana Swift studied English and Advertising. When Dealing with Dragons is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)