Tag: Fantasy

Last, Now, Next & Review of Seven Faceless Saints

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Alexis: 

The last book I read was Seven Faceless Saints by M.K. Lobb.

I’m currently reading March & Feather by Emma Saska.

And I plan to read A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher next!

Review:

Seven Faceless Saints is a newly released YA fantasy that follows two main characters. Roz is a disciple of Patience, but she’s also a part of the brewing rebellion. Damian, her childhood sweetheart, is a young war veteran and the youngest captain in the history of Palazzo security. 

Roz and Damian team up to solve a string of unsolved murders, even if they are both still heartbroken and at odds with one another…especially after Damian’s father had Roz’s murdered.

What I liked:

I love the dark atmosphere and the worldbuilding. The setting, the city of Ombrazia, is Italian-inspired, which works so well considering Ombrazia’s citizens worship saints. Lobb’s descriptions really set up the city as dark and gritty, but with moments of beauty.

I enjoyed the core of both Roz and Damian’s characters. I’m a sucker for YA characters with tragic backstories that dictates their every move! Roz is hard-headed and angry, and Damian is a soft boy who struggles with PTSD from his time at war. Lobb’s characterization of Damian is especially impactful; it really shows the horror of war and how it impacts young men. 

I’m also always down for a fantasy plot that centers around a murder mystery!

What I didn’t like as much: 

Roz and Damian are full of ANGST. I love me some angsty teens, but I feel like this only worked well in the first half of the book. By the time I got to the second half, their explosive interactions felt as if they were going in circles, and their rollercoaster emotions gave me some whiplash. It’s a little too repetitive and over-the-top, even for me, and ends up overshadowing the rest of the story. 

As for the saints themselves, the different groups of disciples remind me of the different factions in Divergent. I think part of the reason why is because we only get the bare bones of the religion. I need to know more about the saints and how the disciples’ magic works; I want to learn more!

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐💫/5 

Review: Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

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A Kindle with Song of Silver, Flame Like Night rests on an outdoor table surrounded by tea.

Alexis:

I had a feeling this book would be a 5-star read for me, and I was right!

Adapted Synopsis:

A Song of Silver, Flame Like Night follows two main characters. Lan lives under the rule of the Elantian colonizers who invaded her kingdom and killed her mother. She has a mysterious mark on her arm that only she can see, and when she’s not working as a songgirl, she spends her time trying to figure out what it means.

Zen is a practitioner—one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom. When Zen runs into Lan, he can see the mark on her arm and knows she has hidden power. Together, they try to outrun the Elantians while unraveling the mystery of Lan’s mark. 

Review:

Well, where to begin?

Zhao’s writing is beautiful. The way she writes her imagery really brings her world to life.  

The worldbuilding is intense but very well crafted. The story takes the time to set up the worldbuilding, plot, and characters. However, I think Zhao wrote it in a way that doesn’t make you feel like you’re plodding through the story. The stakes are really high and adds a thread of tension throughout the story.

I loved both of the main characters—and how dramatic they are. Lan doesn’t put up with anyone’s crap, and Zen is like a stoic emo boy. They’re both well-rounded characters with plenty of flaws and tragic backstories, and I like how they complimented each other. 

My one critique that I have to mention is that there was a specific line that was straight out of Star Wars, as in it immediately conjured up a specific scene with Anakin in my brain 😅

A Song of Silver, Flame Like Night tackles a lot of hard topics: colonization, genocide, experimentation. It has practitioners and magicians, a magic school, demons, and Chinese mythology. It’s an intense book that I really enjoyed and left me devastated in the end. I’m looking forward to the sequel!

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review: A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross

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Alexis holds A River Enchanted next to A Fire Endless on a gray blanket with an Aquarius candle.

Alexis:

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

I’m back home from a hospital stay, where I unfortunately had to have (more) lung surgery. The only good news about that is I’ve had plenty of time to read!

During my recovery, I read A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross, which is the sequel to A River Enchanted. 

This adult fantasy duology follows four main characters—Jack, Adaira, Sidra, and Torin—who live on the Isle of Cadence. The Isle is split between two warring clans and has spirits/faeries, music, and magical items. 

As with the first book, I loved the historical Scottish-inspired island in A Fire Endless. Ross’ writing is as lovely, atmospheric, and lyrical as ever. 

What I really appreciated about this sequel was getting to know Jack and Adaira better. In the first book, I preferred both Sidra and Torin’s POVs. But I felt like both Jack and Adaira had great character arcs. 

Sidra is still my favorite character, and I loved her character arc, as well!

Torin’s POV lost me a little bit. This book is slow moving, and I felt like Torin’s POV dragged it down. I also felt like his character growth already happened in the first book, so I didn’t feel as invested in his journey. I also didn’t like the plot as much as in the first book; however, I did really enjoy the ending!

Overall, I think if you’re looking for a character-driven, historical fantasy novel, this duology might be for you. 

VERDICT: 🔥🔥🔥🔥/5

Alexis’ Favorite Series

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A stack of fantasy series rests on a gray blanket next to a gray notebook.

Alexis:

What are some of your favorite series? ⁣

I’m generally very picky about the books I buy, so you know I love all of these! ⁣And for those of you who have stuck around for a while, you won’t be surprised by my choices. 

  • The Raybearer duology
    • This is a fantastic YA fantasy series that’s inspired by West-African mythology. If you’re usually into adult fantasy but want to delve into YA fantasy, this is a great place to start. It has a complex magic system and worldbuilding and a dynamic main character. 
  • The Forestborn duology
    • Are you tired of me talking about the Forestborn duology yet? This duology has the perfect mix of great characters, adventure, shapeshifting, romance, and politics. 
  • The Legendborn Cycle
    • This YA contemporary fantasy series has hard-hitting themes and a crazy amount of action and worldbuilding. It’s such a fun yet emotional series. Even if you’re not into King Arthur retellings, you should pick it up.
  • The Defy the Night series
    • Defy the Night is pure fun. It has a plague, enemies-to-lovers (that’s technically enemies-to-lovers to friends-to-lovers and back again) and plenty of court politics.
  • The Drowning Empire series
    • This adult fantasy series has multiple POVs, an animal sidekick, bone magic, a heavy dose of mysteries, a revolution, and (you guessed it) drowning islands. If you’re looking for a unique read, I haven’t read anything else quite like it.

Some series not included in the picture include the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, which has enough hype without me talking it up even more, the Six of Crows duology, and the YA sci-fi series The Infinity Courts.

I hope you all have had a great reading month so far. It feels like January has been crawling by!


⁣

Review: Kill Your Darlings by L.E. Harper

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A Kindle ARC of Kill Your Darlings rests on a white marble table next to a Santa hat and a book notes notebook

Alexis: 

If you’re looking for Inkheart meets Inception, then Kill Your Darlings is for you. 

Inkheart was my absolute favorite book as I kid, so you know I had to request Kill Your Darlings on Netgalley!

The story immediately jumps into the action. Author Kyla thinks she’s dreaming at first. After all, she’s in Solera—the world she created in her fantasy series. But soon, she realizes that she’s stuck in Solera, who is in the middle of a war against the evil villian, and Kyla has to figure out how to save both herself and her favorite characters.

This book depicts the struggle of mental health, specifically with depression. It’s the main theme and the main abstract obstacle that Kyla must overcome. Kyla’s struggles, which Harper explains stem very closely from her own, give this book such a raw and emotional edge. I really felt for Kyla as she struggles with her very dark thoughts and depression in order to learn her self worth.

Harper’s wordbuilding is amazing. Solera is the perfect mix of a fantasy and sci-fi world. It has a healthy mix of dragons, magic, battles, and a slew of magical creatures. Since Kyla is the author, we also get a great insight to how the world and its dark and light magic works. 

Without giving anything way, I thought all of the parallels between Earth and Solera were done well. I like how we get asexual representation with Kyla’s character. And I love Kyla’s relationship with a dragon named Cendrion. 

I did think the romantic subplot felt a little forced, especially considering the age gap. However, I think it accomplished what Harper needed it to do for the story. Besides that, my only main critique is that I wanted even more at the end of this story. There were some open-ended questions and interactions that I itched to see while I was reading. However, I understand why Harper ended the book this way, especially considering the frame of the novel (which is within the frame of the novel about Soltera…hence the Inception aspect!). Even without a more beefy ending, this book packed a punch!

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

TWs: Depictions of mental illness including depression, anxiety, suicide and suicidal ideation, and self-harm

Note: I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review: One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

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One Dark Window rests on a yellow scarf next to a cashmere candle and an oil perfume rollerball called Dusty Manuscripts.

Alexis:

One Dark Window is a new adult fantasy that follows Elspeth, who lives in the mist-locked kingdom of Blunder. Elspeth has a secret—after she contracted the infection that gave her illegal magic, she accidentally let a monster called the Nightmare into her head. Now, it lives in the back of her mind and protects her.

But when Elspeth runs into a group of highwaymen, she unexpectedly ends up joining a quest to rid Blunder of its dark magic: a deck of cards called the Providence Cards.

The first topic I want to discuss is the magic system. The idea of a magical deck of cards is very unique, and I really enjoyed how it shaped the worldbuilding and the story. The cards are the only legal way to do magic; each card temporarily gives the user a magical ability. 

Now for the worldbuilding. In the beginning of each chapter is a passage or two from a text called the Book of Adlers. This really helped give insight into the culture of Blunder and helped shape the world, as well.

As for the pacing, the beginning is really slow, and it takes a while for everything to be set up before Elspeth can actually go on her quest. But once the quest began, I really enjoyed being on the journey with her.

There’s a romantic subplot, as well. I’m a huge fan of a romantic subplot, and while I did enjoy it, I was hoping for a little more depth. (It’s worth noting that there’s also the fake-dating trope in this book, which I haven’t seen anyone mention!) But I’m hoping the romance doesn’t feel as surface-level in the sequel.

Speaking of sequels, the ending of One Dark Window sets up for a killer second book. 

Overall, One Dark Window is a great choice if you’re looking for an atmospheric and gothic read with a unique, dark magic system. 

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Review: The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

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Alexis holds a library copy of The Stardust Thief and a gingerbread latte.

Alexis:

So I’ve read more books in 2022 than in any past year. And this month, I finally felt like I was getting into a reading slump. I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood to read, and I picked up two different books, only for them to feel like a chore.

But then I remembered I checked out The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah, a One Thousand and One Nights retelling, from the library. 

The Stardust Thief is an adult fantasy that follows Loulie, who is also known as the Midnight Merchant. With the help of her jinn bodyguard, Qadir, Loulie finds and sells magical jinn relics on the black market. But when the sultan blackmails her into going on a quest for him, Loulie treks across the desert to find a magical lamp and realizes not everything is as it seems.

This was just such a fun book to read. It reads like part adventure story, part myth, and part revenge story. It has multiple POVs—Loulie, Prince Mazen, and one of the eldest Prince Omar’s forty thieves named Aisha. At first, I only wanted to read from Loulie’s perspective, but by the end, all of the characters stole my heart!

All of the characters were so well-rounded. Their distinctive personalities and motivations carried me through the story. I especially loved Qadir and Loulie and their familial-type relationship, and I enjoyed learning about their pasts.

The beginning does start off a little slow, but I like how it allowed Abdullah to set up the scene and really make me root for the characters. Plus, there are still plenty of action scenes!

The worldbuilding is excellent. The different settings shine on the page. There’s also an emphasis on storytelling in The Stardust Thief, and I loved “listening” to Mazen’s stories. Overall, Abdullah’s writing style worked really well for me. 

The ending has some great reveals, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the sequel!

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review: Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim

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A Kindle copy of Spice Road sits on a bookshelf next to a tea tumbler and a box of tea samplers.

Alexis:

Dune meets An Ember in the Ashes

Spice Road is a YA fantasy that follows Imani, a Shield warrior with an affinity for iron. When she discovers her supposedly dead brother is actually alive, she ventures outside of her homeland, the hidden desert city of Qalia, to bring him home. Outside the city limits, she discovers a world that she never knew existed, and grapples with her worldview, herself, her understanding of her brother, and the group she travels with. 

I really enjoyed the worldbuilding. Ibrahim does a great job describing the lush world. I love her use of sensory imagery, especially smell. It brings the world to life.

I love the tea magic! The people of Qalia access their affinity through drinking misra, a tea that allows them to access their magic. The first line of the book is, “We will fight, but first we will have tea.” Which is awesome.

I also really enjoyed the themes that Ibrahim presents. One of the main themes is truth and honesty, as Imani deals with the many lies she’s been told over the years. Another main theme is colonialism, which comes into play in the latter half of the book. I also appreciated the emphasis on family as Imani struggles to handle her rebellious little sister and hold onto hope that her brother is alive and well.

My favorite character is Qayn, a djinni that becomes Imani’s ally. He is the most complex and expressive character of the bunch, and I’m interested to learn more about him and his past!

But unfortunately, I didn’t like Imani’s character. She starts out as very naive and bullheaded…and ends the story being slightly less naive and bullheaded. She tends to be downright mean to anyone who helps her in the slightest and makes a lot of really dumb decisions. It doesn’t help that she’s also known as the Djinni Slayer…but besides obviously slaying a lot of djinni, we don’t really get an insight as to how she got that nickname at the age of seventeen. She also has a very confusing and lackluster enemies-to-lovers romance with a character who accompanies her on her journey. 

I found her to be unlikeable in general, and I had to push through certain chapters because I wasn’t rooting for her the way I should. However, I really loved the tea magic, the Arabian-inspired world, and the mythology aspects of Spice Road. 

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐ 💫


Special thanks to Delacorte Press for sending me an e-arc for review.

Spice Road is expected to be published on January 24, 2023!

Review: Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

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Alexis holds a copy of Bloodmarked over a pile of fallen autumn leaves and her black Chelsea boots.

Alexis:

I’m not kidding when I say I sat down and devoured Bloodmarked in one day.

Bloodmarked, book two in the Legendborn Cycle, was one of my most anticipated sequels, and let’s just say if you’re worried about middle-book-syndrome/sequel syndrome, don’t be!

So much happens in this book that I already feel like I need to re-read it. The plot really thickens.

I loved learning more about Bree. I loved learning more about her root and her ancestors. I loved getting to know the secondary characters even more. I especially enjoyed getting to know Sel and Alice better. A decent number of new characters are also introduced, but Deonn does such a good job of balancing everyone out that no character feels flat.

Bloodmarked also dives into important themes such as racism, white privilege, and identity. This is such a well-fleshed out series so far, and I can’t wait to see where Deonn takes it next.

Overall, there’s not much else I can say about this book without spoilers! If you still haven’t picked up Legendborn and you’d be into a King Arthur retelling (or even if you’re just looking for a great and multi-layered YA fantasy read), I recommend picking it up.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review: Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra

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Night of the Raven, Dawn of the dove rests on a white and gray marble table next to a Harvest Festival fall candle.

Alexis:

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove follows Katyani, a bodyguard who has had a forbidden soul bond with the Queen of Chandela since she was a child. Along with the two princes of Chandela, Kayani is ordered to travel to a monastic school—the gurukul of the famous Acharya Mahavir—in the middle of a forest that’s crawling with monsters. It’s both at the school and her return home that leave Katyani reckoning with everything she’s ever known. 

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove is an upper YA fantasy inspired by medieval India. I enjoyed the setting, especially the monster-ridden forest (since, as you all know, I’m a sucker for a creepy forest). The story has political intrigue, a slow-burn romance, and plenty of monster hunting.

I especially liked Mehrotra’s writing style and the humor she sprinkles into the story. I found Katyani to be an enjoyable main character; she’s definitely the female version of a himbo, but had a great character arc. There are a lot of layers and reveals in this adventure story that kept me wanting to keep reading.

Some of the characters, especially Daksh, Acharya Mahavir’s son, could have been a lot more fleshed out. Daksh and Katyani’s relationship also felt too underdeveloped considering it takes up a decent chunk of the story. Some character motivations seemed a little too easy, as well, which made me hesitant to give this book a full 5-star rating. However, I really enjoyed this story and definitely recommend it if you’re looking for an action-packed, adventurous story with Indian mythology. 

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫