Tag: Fantasy

Review: Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray

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Beast of Prey stands on a deck railing next to a bottle of Peach Joe Tea in front of a forest.

Alexis:

5 ⭐ review!

It’s no secret that I love stories with creepy woods, so I was happy to find that Beasts of Prey features a creepy jungle.

There are so many layers to this book. The worldbuilding is interesting and intricate, the characters are bright and distinctive on the page, and Gray’s writing style is really doing it for me.

Beasts of Prey is a Pan-African fantasy inspired by lore, animals, language, and even historical figures from many different African nations, as Gray explains in her author’s note. Gray also explores forced diaspora. You can really feel her love and devotion to the world and the story that she’s created, and it gives the book that extra layer that makes the world come alive.

Beasts of Prey does have some classic YA tropes, but I loved the main characters and the central themes of finding yourself and overcoming past trauma. The story follows two main characters: Koffi, an indentured beastkeeper of the Night Zoo, and Ekon, a trainee for a band of religious warriors called the Sons of Six. When Koffi accidentally unleashes magic she didn’t know she had, called the splendor, it gets her in trouble with the owner of the Night Zoo. She finds herself teaming up with Ekon, who is trying to prove himelf worthy of being a warrior, in order to track down a monster called the Shetani.

The book follows one other POV from a girl named Adiah, and I enjoyed puzzling out how she connects with the rest of the story.

The inner editor in me loves that Gray also included an annotation of her first chapter in the back of the book—I loved seeing her writing and editing process.

This is a great beginning to the series, and I recommend it if you’re looking for a story with multiple POVs, great characters, monsters, magic, and a creepy jungle! 

Anna’s April Wrap Up

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I read some truly great books in April! I don’t have a negative thing to say about any of them.

If I Had Your Face-Follows the interconnected lives of four women. Largely about the impossible beauty standards of women, especially in Korean culture.

Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders– The story of two women and lovers who were murdered and the fight for justice around their deaths. A scary realization that even our national parks aren’t a safe place to be a woman.

Sea of Tranquility – Emily St.John Mandel’s newest book is just as amazing as everyone is saying it is. You won’t know what’s truly going on until the end, and I loved the touch of scifi. 

Audiobooks:

A Far Wilder Magic– Cozy magic with just enough small town politics and romance. My second Alison Saft book of the year. I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next.

The Push– the best thriller I’ve read this year. This will make you terrified to be a parent.

Review: Daughter of the Drowned Empire by Frankie Diane Mallis

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Alexis:

Daughter of the Drowned Empire is a NA fantasy that follows Lyriana, who is third in line to the Seat of Power in Bamaria. She hopes to be a mage after her ceremony, when her magic will be announced and unleashed, but she has a secret—her two older sisters both have illegal magic.⁣

⁣It took me a little while to get into the beginning of this, so I highly recommend checking out the glossary in the back first to get a handle on the worldbuilding. There’s also a love triangle that I was feeling iffy about. But once the plot got rolling, I was hooked!

This was a fun book that ended up being fairly complex. I liked the themes of love, sisterhood, and staying true to yourself. I enjoyed Lyriana’s character arc, and I can’t wait to see where Mallis takes her next.

⁣Overall, the character development was well done and this was a fun read. I can’t wait for the sequel!

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⁣

Review: Edgewood by Kristen Ciccarelli

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Alexis holds a copy of Edgewood- green with a girl wearing a purple dress and holding a dagger- in front of a bookshelf.

Alexis:

Another 5 ⭐ review!

Edgewood is a new adult fantasy that has everything I love in a book: atmospheric writing, creepy woods, and a dynamic love interest. 

There were two really great themes woven throughout this book. The first is music. Emeline, the main character, is a nineteen-year-old singer, trying to tour and get her foot in the door of the music world. I loved how music played a magical role in this book.

The second is memory. Emeline’s grandfather, who she calls Pa, is suffering from dementia. Ciccarelli bases his character on her own grandfather who suffered from dementia, and so she writes Pa with care, and her grief comes through in her writing. The themes of forgetting and remembering play a critical role in the story.

There’s also a Wood King, a city deep in the woods, a curse, and interesting creatures that appear in the story. And I found Hawthorne, the love interest, to be a well-rounded and mysterious yet warmhearted character. 

My only critique is that there were a couple of minor storylines that I think could’ve been explored further. However, I enjoyed this story immensely and definitely recommend it if you’re looking for something atmospheric and full of forest imagery and magical music.

(And it doesn’t hurt that the whole book is beautiful!)

Review: Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier

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Alexis holds Year of the Reaper in front of a plant and a solar-powered metal cactus.

Alexis: 5 ⭐ review!

Year of the Reaper follows Cas, a young lord who is finally on his way home after being held as a prisoner for three years and surviving a plague. When someone targets the royal family, Cas finds himself teaming up with Lena, a historian, to find the mysterious assassin. 

I loved this book! Cas is such a great main character. He’s flawed and scarred from his time as a prisoner, and his story deals with him trying to move on from his past. He also spends time reuniting with his older brother, and I enjoyed their relationship. 

There are so many interesting facets to this story. The story is set in a medieval fantasy world that’s based on both the Pacific Islands and the black plague. While it’s a low fantasy world, Cas is now able to see ghosts—which I read as a symbol/physical manifestation of his survival with the deadly plague. 

A majority of the book also deals with not only the aftermath of the plague, but a long war that has finally come to an end.

The characters are well-rounded, and I enjoyed the dynamic between Cas (grump) and Lena (sunshine). There’s also the “who hurt you?” trope, but it was very well done. My only small critique is that I feel like the title doesn’t fit the story that well.

If you’re looking for a fun, multi-faceted YA fantasy/mystery that also deals with some dark themes and trauma, then I recommend picking this one up!

Review: This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

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Alexis holds This Woven Kingdom in a coffee shop next to her laptop and wooden chairs.

Alexis:

Happy Sunday, everyone! I’ve been enjoying reading and writing in coffee shops lately. I’ve always loved their atmospheres (and plus having some good green tea and a peach danish always helps, too).

I just finished reading This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi. Mafi’s writing is absolutely beautiful and atmospheric. Just on a writing level, this book was a joy to read. I absolutely loved her descriptions of the landscape and the world. It was so vibrant and lovely on the page, and it made her worldbuilding of the Persian mythology inspired world great.

This Woven Kingdom has two POVs: Alizeh, the long lost princess of the Jinn kingdom, who became a servant to hide after the murder of her parents, and Kamran, the crowned prince. I thought Mafi’s characterization of both main characters was great, but I especially enjoyed Alizeh’s chapters. 

All that being said, this is a very slow moving book, and if you haven’t picked up on it yet, I love slow moving books. But while the worldbuilding and characters are so well-established, barely anything happens in this book, and it’s over 500 pages long! Besides what happens in the end, the only main plot point is some insta-love. 

Overall, this book felt like one long set up for the next one in the series, but I’m interested to see what happens in the next one.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐.75 

Review: A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

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Alexis holds A River Enchanted in front of a bookshelf. She's wearing a rust red cardigan.

Alexis: 

A River Enchanted was the last book I read in February. It’s a Scottish inspired folktale fantasy with a historical fantasy type feel. The story is set on the magical island of Cadence, which is divided in half by two feuding clans, and where spirits rule the isle. 

The story follows multiple POVs: Jack, a harp player who is called back to Cadence after 10 years of studying music on the mainland; Adaira, the Heiress of the East; Sidra, a healer, and her husband Torin, the chief of the guard.

The aspect of this book that I love the most is the writing. Ross’ writing is lush and lyrical. This book is very atmospheric, and the island itself seems to live and breathe on the page like its own character. I also enjoyed the emphasis on music through Jack’s harp. 

I also really enjoyed getting to know the characters and all of their relationships to each other. Sidra and Torin really stood out to me, especially Sidra. I loved her character, and I felt like I understood her and got into her head and heart more than the other characters.

While I liked Jack and Adaira, I felt like they, and their relationship, paled in comparison to Sidra and Torin. 

This is a very slow-moving book, and thankfully I like slow-moving stories. It really takes its time building everything up—especially the mystery of girls on the island going missing.

It’s worth noting that this book was pitched as House of Earth and Blood meets The Witch’s Heart. While I haven’t read the latter, House of Earth and Blood is a strange comparison title. Literally the only thing these two books have in common is fae, but they’re called spirits in A River Enchanted and are very different from Maas’ fae. 

My biggest critique of this book is that I wasn’t a fan of the melodramatic ending. This could have been a five star book if it had ended differently.

This is a beautifully written story, and if you like historical fantasy with lush, almost cozy fantasy vibes (and a gorgeous book cover) then you might like this one!

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Review: House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

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A copy of House of Sky and Breath lays on a gray blanket, with House of Blood and Earth above it, next to an Aquarius candle.

Alexis:

SPOILER FREE REVIEW 

The first book in the Crescent City series, House of Earth and Blood, is my all-time favorite Sarah J. Maas book. I know my initial review of it on here was a little bit critical, but I’ve re-read it multiple times now, and it gets better every time, and just hits me right in the feels!

I know the book world was hyped about the release of the sequel, House of Sky and Breath, but you can bet I was hyped about it, too!

What I didn’t like so much: 

I think House of Sky and Breath suffers a little bit from second book syndrome in that I can tell everything in this book is setting up big events to happen in the next one. 

One of the sex scenes had some information that 100% should have been left out, because it took me out of the scene and was frankly unnecessary and unsexy. 

While HOEAB focuses primarily on the two main characters, Bryce and Hunt, HOSAB bounces around more between the side characters. Maas focuses especially on Ruhn, Bryce’s brother; Tharion, a mer; and Ithan, Connor’s little brother. 

The multiple POVs bogged the story down. I found myself not caring about Tharion’s POV at all (sorry, Tharion). And I missed the focus being on Bryce and Hunt.

Now, on to the rest!

What I liked:

While I did enjoy Ithan’s POV, the only secondary character I really connected with was Ruhn! He’s such a good character, and I’m excited to see how he progresses in the next book, too. I also really enjoyed the funny scenes in this book.

Also, as Maas teased, THE ENDING. She tied so many details and plot points together, it was actually insane. I had to zone out for a while in shock after finishing this book. I haven’t slept well in a week, and it’s all because of this book! 

But that’s all I can say about that without spoiling anything. 

Who knows, maybe when I re-read this one, I’ll have a different opinion. But for now, the first ¾ of the story was about 3.5 stars, and the last ¼ of the story was 5 stars.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Review: A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

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Alexis holds a library copy of A Conjuring of Light above a deck and wire table.

Alexis: I finished the Shades of Magic series!

Actually, I finished A Conjuring of Light, the third book. But Schwab announced recently that she plans on writing more books in the series!

I think this one was my favorite. All of the plot points came together in the end, and the pace picked up. I loved how all of the characters we met throughout the series finally got together.

I think the minor POVs could have been cut out, as I found myself skimming them.

However, I liked how Kell and Lila’s characters turned out, especially. Lila felt a lot less of a pick me girl than the previous two books, thankfully.

I really enjoyed reading this one, and I’m glad I finally read this book-world favorite.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Review: Lightbringer by Claire Legrand

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Alexis:

It’s official—I’ve been destroyed by this series. This book gave me my first book hangover in a good while.

Legrand went ham in this last book. Like in Kingsbane, the characters go through so much trauma in Lightbringer. 

The first half was a little slow. Rielle was insufferable. And I’m still not sure how I feel about the ending. Yet…I was so caught up in the story.  I loved the plot twists!

If you’re looking to read a fantasy trilogy with flawed and morally gray characters, time travel, angels, powerfully magical women, elemental magic, and super high stakes, then this is the series for you.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

TW: Blood, depression, gore, grief, murder, self-harm, suicidal ideation, torture, violence, and war