Tag: young adult

Book Review: Painted Devils, by Margaret Owen   

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co.

Title:  Painted Devils      
Author:  Margaret Owen   
Genre:  Fantasy, YA
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 

When misfortune strikes, the “reformed” jewel thief Vanja manipulates a remote village for help and in turn, accidentally starts a cult around a Low God, the Scarlet Maiden. Soon after, her nemesis-turned-suitor Emeric and a supervising prefect arrive to investigate the claim of godhood, and she realizes how in over her head she must be. But the Scarlet Maiden does reveal herself . . . only to claim Emeric as her virgin sacrifice. Desperate to save the only man she’s ever cared for, Vanja decides to seek an alternative: bring the Scarlet Maiden a drop of blood from each of seven brothers for the midsummer feast.

While the thief and prefect-in-training still have feelings for one another, Emeric must determine whether Vanja has committed fraud as his final test for prefect-hood. And as they travel the Haarzlands, a harsh land far from the rules of the city, the past that Vanja barely remembers comes into full view and she fears a future that does not require her to keep running.

The amount of snark in this novel is genius-level. I was snickering within two minutes after I started reading. Unlike the previous book, I was invested from the very beginning, and each obstacle the characters met only drew me further into the story. This is a gritty fantasy, not a sweetness-and-light one, but the characters and the world have so much depth that you feel everything they experience. I highly recommend this read and this author.

Margaret Owen lives in Seattle. Painted Devils is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: The Last One to Fall, by Gabriella Lepore   

Image belongs to Inkyard Press.

Title: The Last One to Fall      
Author: Gabriella Lepore    
Genre: YA     
Rating:  4 out of 5

 Six friends. Five suspects. One murder.

Savana Caruso and Jesse Melo have known each other since they were kids, so when Jesse texts Savana in the middle of the night and asks her to meet him at Cray’s Warehouse, she doesn’t hesitate. But before Savana can find Jesse, she bears witness to a horrifying murder, standing helpless on the ground as a mysterious figure is pushed out of the fourth floor of the warehouse.

Six teens were there that night, and five of them are now potential suspects. With the police circling, Savana knows what will happen if the wrong person is charged, particularly once she starts getting threatening anonymous text messages.

As she attempts to uncover the truth, Savana learns that everyone is keeping secrets—and someone is willing to do whatever it takes to keep those secrets from coming to light.

This was an interesting read—I read it in a single sitting, so it kept me engaged until midnight, when I really should have been sleeping. I liked Savana a lot, except for her propensity to go off to dangerous locations in the middle of the night…when some masked figure had been stalking her. That didn’t seem like a smart choice.

The author did a great job of dropping red herrings with all the characters, so the reader—or at least me—was never really sure who the murderer was. It was easy to feel empathy for all of the characters, too—except Raf—although the one thing that did not make sense to me was Jesse’s mom, and the way she completely vanished without contacting her kids.

Gabriella Lepore is from South Wales. The Last One to Fall is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Warrior Girl Unearthed, by Angeline Boulley    

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co.

Title: Warrior Girl Unearthed       
Author: Angeline Boulley    
Genre: YA, mystery    
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was ready for her Summer of Slack but instead, after a fender bender that was entirely not her fault, she’s stuck working to pay back her Auntie Daunis for repairs to the Jeep.

Thankfully she has the other outcasts of the summer program, Team Misfit Toys, and even her twin sister Pauline. Together they ace obstacle courses, plan vigils for missing women in the community, and make sure summer doesn’t feel so lost after all.

But when she attends a meeting at a local university, Perry learns about the “Warrior Girl”, an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives, and everything changes. Perry has to return Warrior Girl to her tribe. Determined to help, she learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. The university has been using legal loopholes to hold onto Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors’ remains, and Perry and the Misfits won’t let it go on any longer.

Using all of their skills and resources, the Misfits realize a heist is the only way to bring back the stolen artifacts and remains for good. But there is more to this repatriation than meets the eye as more women disappear and Pauline’s perfectionism takes a turn for the worse. As secrets and mysteries unfurl, Perry and the Misfits must fight to find a way to make things right – for the ancestors and for their community.

I enjoyed learning so much about the Anishinaabe tribe and culture. I found those details fascinating. Perry was a great character! She truly learned from her mistakes and grew from that knowledge, and she fully embraced her culture and heritage and determined to honor it in every way she could. I also liked the connections to Firekeeper’s Daughter.

Angeline Boulley is from Michigan. Warrior Girl Unearthed is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: Pieces of Me, by Kate McLaughlin   

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: Pieces of Me        
Author: Kate McLaughlin    
Genre: YA    
Rating:  4 out of 5

When eighteen-year-old Dylan wakes up, she’s in an apartment she doesn’t recognize. The other people there seem to know her, but she doesn’t know them – not even the pretty, chiseled boy who tells her his name is Connor. A voice inside her head keeps saying that everything is okay, but Dylan can’t help but freak out. Especially when she borrows Connor’s phone to call home and realizes she’s been missing for three days.

Dylan has lost time before, but never like this.

Soon after, Dylan is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and must grapple not only with the many people currently crammed inside her head, but that a secret from her past so terrible she’s blocked it out has put them there. Her only distraction is a budding new relationship with Connor. But as she gets closer to finding out the truth, Dylan wonders: will it heal her or fracture her further?

I can’t decide on this:  on the one hand, I loved how supportive Dylan’s family and best friend were of her illness and how they tried to help her. On the other, that struck me as not realistic. There’s no way that every single person in Dylan’s life would have been super supportive and bend over backwards to do everything she thought she needed while going through her diagnosis. Connor especially wasn’t believable to me, being someone she’d just met and completely understanding of what’s going on—even when one of her alters hits on him and another is a guy?

Great writing here, and the author managed to draw me into even the alters’ personalities and POVs, which I would have thought was impossible. This was an engrossing read, I’m just not sure how believable it is.

Kate McLaughlin lives in Connecticut. Pieces of Me is her newest novel.

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

Book Review: Silver in the Bone, by Alexandra Bracken  

Image belongs to Random House.

Title:  Silver in the Bone   
Author: Alexandra Bracken    
Genre: Fantasy, YA    
Rating: 5 out of 5

Tamsin Lark didn’t ask to be a Hollower. As a mortal with no magical talent, she was never meant to break into ancient crypts, or compete with sorceresses and Cunningfolk for the treasures inside. But after her thieving foster father disappeared without so much as a goodbye, it was the only way to keep herself—and her brother, Cabell—alive.

Ten years later, rumors are swirling that her guardian vanished with a powerful ring from Arthurian legend. A run-in with her rival Emrys ignites Tamsin’s hope that the ring could free Cabell from a curse that threatens both of them. But they aren’t the only ones who covet the ring.

As word spreads, greedy Hollowers start circling, and many would kill to have it for themselves. While Emrys is the last person Tamsin would choose to partner with, she needs all the help she can get to edge out her competitors in the race for the ring. Together, they dive headfirst into a vipers’ nest of dark magic, exposing a deadly secret with the power to awaken ghosts of the past and shatter her last hope of saving her brother. . . .

I read this entire novel in one sitting—yes, all almost-500-pages—if that tells you anything. I found the setting and worldbuilding fascinating, with the mixture of fantastical elements and the mundane everyday swirled together. Tamsin is frequently kind of a jerk, even if I can understand why she’s so prickly. I loved her relationship with her brother, and the snark between her and Emyrs was great. Some of this was creepy as heck, but I loved what the author did with the King Arthur mythos, and I would read the next book in a hot second.

Alexandra Bracken is a bestselling author. Silver in the Bone is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Divine Rivals, by Rebecca Ross   

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title: Divine Rivals     
Author: Rebecca Ross     
Genre:  Fantasy, YA   
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again …

All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands – that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper – an unlikely magical connection forms.

Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?

This started off a bit slow, but it got going quickly. I would have liked to know a bit more about the history of the culture/the gods and how things ended up quite they were with the war and everything going on, but the not-knowing didn’t detract much from the story. I loved the typewriters and their history! That part was really cool. I liked Iris and Roman a lot, and watching their enemies-to-friends-to-lovers journey was a grand adventure. I can’t wait to read more!

Rebecca Ross lives in Georgia. Divine Rivals is her newest novel.

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

What I Read in March (2023)

Books Read in March: 21
Books Read for the Year:  54/225
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:

West with Giraffes, by Lynda Rutledge (audio book/TBR). This was such a good read! I enjoyed the narrator, but the story was absolutely wonderful.

Look Up!, by Jimmy Evans (TBR, spiritual).

The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien (re-read).

Little White Lies, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (re-read). This sucked me right in! Again.

Arcana Rising, by Kresley Cole (re-read). I had forgotten so much about this series!

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis (re-read). Loved this.

The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis (re-read).

The Dark Calling, by Kresley Cole (re-read)…only a few more weeks until the final book in the series….

For Review:

Off the Map, by Trish Doller. I loved this read, just like I’ve loved the others in this linked standalone series. Highly recommend! I was ready to leave for Ireland immediately.

The Lost English Girl, by Julia Kelly. I didn’t enjoy this quite as much s I have other books by this author, but it was a good read. Hard, in places, but good.

Whistleblower, by Kate Marchant. This was a solid read, but I reel like it tried to hard to be inclusive—instead of just being inclusive.

A Novel Proposal, by Denise Hunter. This was a sweet read. Sadie was a little—a lot—to extroverted for me, but I loved the beach town setting and all the secondary characters.

You Wouldn’t Dare, by Samantha Markum. The friendships in this book were fantastic! Juniper was very self-centered and self-absorbed, not to mention overly dramatic, but she was a (mostly) fun character to read.

Hotel of Secrets, by Diana Biller. I really enjoyed this! The setting was something I hadn’t read before, and, while the family drama was a bit much for me, I loved the characters. Plus, the cover is gorgeous!

Yours Truly, the Duke, by Amelia Grey. I very much enjoyed this! I liked how the characters grew and changed, and the children added a lot of fun to the story.

When You Wish Upon a Star, by Elizabeth Lim (forthcoming). I enjoyed the narrator of this audio book very much! Loved the relationship between the sisters a lot—even if I didn’t care for Ilaria at all.

Please, Sorry, Thanks, by Mark Batterson. This was a thought-provoking read. Such a simple concept, yet so impactful.

Five Fortunes, by Barbara Venkataraman. A quick, fun read about a group of five friends.

Once We Were Home, by Jennifer Rosner. This was a deep and emotional book. Difficult to read because of the subject matter, and I feel like it really left one of the characters unresolved.

Zora Books Her Happy Ever After, by Taj McCoy (forthcoming). The first third of this read was solid: I liked the characters, the family dynamic was awesome, and I was invested in what was going on. Then it became obvious that the characters were very hypocritical, neither of the two male leads was really a good guy, and the big “secret” was about as hidden as Mount Rushmore. So, no, I do not recommend this. I enjoyed the author’s previous book, but this one wasn’t for me.

Oxford Star, by Laura Bradbury (forthcoming). This was a cute, fun read. I loved all the members of the skulk!

Left Unfinished:
When in Rome, by Liam Callanan. The premise of this absolutely intrigued me, but Claire got on my very last nerve with her indecisiveness and let-life-happen-to-me attitude instead of taking some initiative herself, so I stopped reading at 15%. I wasn’t willing to be annoyed for the other 85% of the book.

Beyond That, the Sea, by Laura Spence-Ash. Solid writing in this and interesting premise, but in the end, the multiple POV characters and leisurely pacing just didn’t hold my attention. Not a good fit for me at this time.

The London Seance Society, by Sarah Penner. I made it to 20% because I loved The Last Apothecary, but this felt disjointed and erratic, and the content wasn’t what I expected.

Book Review: You Wouldn’t Dare, by Samantha Markum

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  You Wouldn’t Dare  
Author:  Samantha Markum  
Genre: YA  
Rating:  4.5 out of

When Juniper Nash Abreheart kissed Graham Isham for the first time, she had no idea it would nearly be the end of their friendship.

More specifically, she had no idea that the terrible, unforgivable thing she did to keep their summer fling a secret wouldn’t just ruin their friendship, but also Graham’s entire life. Now, months since the fallout, Junie and Graham spend most of their time sidestepping conversational landmines on the journey back to normalcy.

Junie is sure the strangeness between her and Graham is her biggest problem – until her mom hires Tallulah, her boyfriend’s surly teenage daughter, to work at their family café, and then announces they’ll all be moving in together at the end of the summer. The only bright spot ahead is Junie’s dad’s upcoming visit, just in time for her community theater production. And then poor turnout soon threatens that.

But when Junie starts to realize the feelings she swore to take care of last summer have lingered, saving her production and managing her hostile relationship with Tallulah might be the least of her problems. Graham isn’t just off limits – their friendship has been mended to barely withstand a breeze, and the gale force of Junie’s feelings could be just what breaks them.

The friendships in this story are what made the book so great! Juniper is…a very self-absorbed, selfish, and dramatic person. In short:  not someone I could stand to be around very long. She is verbally manipulative and says terrible things without thinking (Okay, pretty sure we’ve all done that at some point, but she rarely seems to regret what she’s said—until someone gets mad at her. And usually she just gets defensive, not remorseful.). Did she learn and grow in this book? Maybe, but I’m not sure. This is still very much worth reading, just don’t expect Junie to be entirely likable.

Samantha Markum was born in St. Louis. You Wouldn’t Dare is her newest novel.

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

Book Review:  Whistleblower, by Kate Marchant

Image belongs to Wattpad Books.

Title: Whistleblower       
Author: Kate Marchant    
Genre:  YA   
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Laurel Cates has never wanted the spotlight. As a junior studying journalism at Garland University, she’s perfectly content pumping out well-written fluff pieces for the school paper and focusing on the finer things in life: friends, house parties, and carne asada tacos. But when Laurel’s research for an article on the school’s beloved football coach uncovers a pattern of misbehavior and a trail of lies, she knows she has to expose the truth.

Even if it means facing public scrutiny. Even if it means risking her part-time job, her reputation, and her safety. Even if Bodie St. James, the heart-of-gold quarterback, seems hell-bent on convincing her that the man who has been like a father to him couldn’t possibly be the villain she thinks he is.

When Laurel and Bodie team up to prove each other wrong, their tentative alliance becomes complicated by growing feelings and mounting evidence. And Laurel must choose between staying invisible or doing what’s right . . . even if it costs her more than she ever imagined.

This was a solid read, although the last third or so seemed intent on making a show of how inclusive it was—instead of just being inclusive. I really liked Laurel and her two best friends. Their relationship and interactions were great. Bodie seemed a bit too good to be true, frankly, but he was very likable. This was a quick, easy read with a good message.

Kate Marchant is from the San Francisco Bay Area. Whistleblower is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Wattpad Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:    Where Darkness Blooms, by Andrea Hannah

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  Where Darkness Blooms      
Author:  Andrea Hannah   
Genre: YA, fantasy    
Rating:  3.5 out of 5

The town of Bishop is known for exactly two things: recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women—missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial.

With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney’s twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret too: the summer fling she had with Delilah’s boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She’s sure of it.

Bishop has always been a strange town. But what the girls don’t know is that Bishop was founded on blood—and now it craves theirs.

This was a very strange novel. Very atmospheric and evocative, but strange. The sunflowers creeped me out tremendously—like the corn field in The Stand—and even when I got an explanation for them, that didn’t make them any less creepy. The relationship between the four girls was realistic, with their fighting and arguing and defending each other, but I didn’t really care for them. This was a very dark and bloody story, and I didn’t find much hope in it.

Andrea Hannah is an award-winning author. Where Darkness Blooms is her newest novel.

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