Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in The Demon and the Light, the hotly anticipated follow-up to Axie Oh’s The Floating World.
The battle is over, but the war is just beginning…
The Demon and the Light is the sequel to The Floating World, which I read an ARC of in early 2025 and really enjoyed. I’m happy to say that The Demon and the Light was an explosive sequel.
It has plenty of light vs darkness imagery. It explores themes of love, grief, responsibility, and more. Its main plot twist threw me for a loop. At first, I wasn’t sure if it would work, but Oh did a great job of making it believable and fit into the world.
This is an action-packed sequel, and the vibes were immaculate. There’s a lot of flying. There are sword fights. There are battles. There are demons and monsters. I flew through the story (quite literally, too, because I read it on a plane).
What I especially loved were the characters. While I liked the characters in the first book, I grew to love them even more—and it helped that their character ARCs were done perfectly. Ren and Sunho, the main characters, are often perfect foils for each other and complement each other so well.
Jaeil, a side character in the first book, plays a more important role in the sequel, and I loved his character progression, as well. The characters definitely give me found family and Six of Crows vibes.
My only main con was the same issue I had with the first book: the pacing in some of the critical scenes was a little off, and I think Oh could’ve lingered longer on them a lot more, especially the climatic final battle.
Overall, without giving anything away, I definitely recommend this duology if you’re looking for a fast-paced, action-filled YA fantasy with dynamic characters, Korean mythology/steampunk worldbuilding, romance, and magic.
I’ve read 17 books so far this year, so I feel a little behind in reviews! But life has been busy in a way that life tends to do, between wedding planning, the birth of my nephew, work, and starting the querying process all over again with my recently finished novel.
Dark Rise was actually one of my last reads of 2024, and its sequel, Dark Heir, was one of my first reads of 2025, and I still think about them. Dark Rise has become a bit of an underrated Bookstagram darling, and when I found a copy at a used bookstore, I was curious.
Dark Rise
Winter always makes me in the mood for a good fantasy, so Dark Rise was exactly what I was looking for. It’s a dark YA fantasy that’s set in a historical London and follows sixteen-year-old Will, who is on the run from some mysterious men who killed his mother. He finds himself learning about a group of people called the Stewards who fight for the Light and are attempting to fight off the Dark—and the rising Dark King.
This felt like a classic YA fantasy, and I loved the dark vs. light themes. The ending especially was spectacular, and it really put the rest of the book in a new light (ha) and turned some things on their heads. It was 4 stars for me!
Dark Heir
Dark Heir was a fantastic sequel. In an age where a lot of sequels fall flat, Dark Heir only expands on both the world and the plot in the first book in dark and wonderful ways. We learn a lot more about the characters, and C.S. Pacat really plays with the themes of destiny and fate. This was 5-stars for me!
If you’re looking for a great start to a YA fantasy series, then I recommend it!
The Floating World is a classic YA fantasy with great worldbuilding and interesting twists.
I definitely loved the world the most! I found it so intriguing. It definitely has a steampunk vibe to it mixed with Korean mythology, and I enjoyed learning about the world, its history and legends, and its politics. There’s a decent amount of political and military intrigue with the POV of a character named Jaliel.
I loved the main characters, Ren and Sunho. They both had interesting backstories and motivations. I was definitely getting some Howl’s Moving Castle vibes, with a dash of Shadow and Bone.
My only main criticism is that the dialogue sometimes fell a little flat and felt stilted. Also, some of the critical scenes felt like they happened really fast while some of the side scenes went on a little longer.
Overall, this is a great start to a series, and I found myself drawn into the story—there was never a dull moment! There’s definitely a lot to build on for the sequel!
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Macmillian for my ARC in exchange for a review. The Floating World releases on 4/29/25!
Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.
Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.
Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn’t realize she’s the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined…
The Devourer is a YA fantasy with pirates, revenge, a monster sinking ships, and magic leaking into the world. It follows Adra, a young pirate captain. When her half-brother Cameron attacks their father and robs him of a priceless treasure map, he leaves him a shell of the pirate captain he once was. Now Adra’s only aim in life is to kill Cameron, retrieve her father’s map, and claim the treasure herself.
But her plans are thwarted by a young pirate captain named Quinn, as well as a monster called The Devourer that’s sinking ships. Now, she must strike a deal with the monster.
What I Liked:
Adra was a morally grey and well-rounded main character, and her relationship with her crew was interesting to read about. Diana, a girl who was turned into an osprey by bad magic, was my favorite character, and I wanted even more of her!
I also really vibed with Ames’ writing style, and I loved her descriptions.
The story also has sapphic and disability representation.
I don’t want to give anything away, but the overall plot and premise feels fresh and different, which I really appreciated in a YA read. The atmosphere of the book is fairly dark, but with enough humor to balance it out.
What I Didn’t Like As Much:
However, I found myself wanting even more monsters and mayhem. The premise of the book doesn’t really happen until halfway through the story, so the first half felt a little slow and the plot didn’t feel quite as urgent as I wanted it to. The ending also felt a little abrupt to me; I wanted more scenes with Cameron.
Verdict:
That being said, overall, this was a solid and enjoyable read. I was in the mood for a pirate story, so this hit the spot.
🌊🌊🌊🌊/5
Thank you to Netgalley and Page Street Publishing for my ARC in exchange for a review!
I don’t usually make tbrs (or strict tbrs, anyway) because somehow my mood reading always comes into play. However, these are the books that I’m hoping to read this month.
The Temptation of Magic by Megan Scott: My library hold of this one just came in. It’s supposed to be a dark academia romantasy.
Heir by Sabaa Tahir: I’m also picking this one up from the library today. It sounds like a great, classic YA fantasy.
The Gods Below by Andrea Stewart: This was the last book I bought. Stewart’s debut, The Bone Shard Daughter, is one of my favorite books, so I’m looking forward to reading this one, which is about a world ravaged by ancient magic, where gemstones give certain people magical abilities.
The Devourer by Alison Ames: I have an ARC of this one, which is about pirates and the sea. It sounds so interesting, and I’m also obsessed with the cover.
Have you read any of these, or are you planning on reading any of them? I hope you have a great reading month!
I’m finally making my way through my ARCs! Most recently, I finished Inferno’s Heir by Tiffany Wang, which comes out on October 15th.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Teia Carthan abandoned her morals long ago, and now there’s nothing she won’t do to stay alive. So far she has survived her parents’ deaths, the ire of the Council, and innumerable attempts on her life, orchestrated by Jura, her half brother and soon-to-be king of Erisia. Teia’s rare control over two elements marks her as both an outsider and a formidable opponent—but once Jura is crowned king, there will be no way to survive him. Not for Teia, not for anyone.
When Jura moves to crush the rebellion that seeks to overthrow the monarchy, Teia sees one last opportunity to ensure her own safety. She can infiltrate the rebels, locate their base . . . and betray them to Jura, trading their lives for her own.
Yet when Teia meets the rebels, she gets far more than she bargained for. And when she gains not only their trust but their friendship, she begins to have doubts. Perhaps the rebels are right. Perhaps the Golden Palace should be torn down and the monarchy destroyed.
But then again—what if there is another possibility? What if Teia were on the throne instead?
Review:
Inferno’s Heir is Six of Crows meets elemental magic with a dash of The Hunger Games. It has fire and water magic, political intrigue, a band of rebels, morally gray characters, and a heist or two.
I enjoyed the firebending vibes in the story. Wang doesn’t shy away from showing a brutal world, especially when it comes to Jura—and even Teia. Characters are forced to make decisions, whether they end up making the right one or not.
I’m excited to see where the sequel takes us. There was an interesting bit of lore dropped near the end, and it will definitely be a major player in the next book. I’m also looking forward to getting to know the side characters better.
If you like elemental magic, political intrigue, and morally gray characters, then I recommend giving this one a shot when it comes out in a month!
VERDICT: 🔥🔥🔥🔥/5
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Bindery Books for my review copy!
Where the Dark Stands Still is my kind of book. It’s Howl’s Moving Castle meets Uprooted with a dash of Sorcery of Thorns. I really enjoyed it, and it ended up being 4.5 stars for me.
“‘God,’ Liska pants.
‘Not quite,’ the Leszy says, watching her carefully. ‘But it’s still a better compliment than screaming the moment you see me.’
She might have rolled her eyes if she wasn’t still trembling.”
I loved the atmosphere and Poranek’s writing style. The world is Polish folklore-inspired, which I really enjoyed. It was great seeing Liska, the main character, learn and grow as a character as the book went on. And if you like Howl, well, you’ll like the Leszy, the demon of the wood.
My only critiques: The Leszy’s nickname for Liska was definitely overused, and the beginning was a little slow.
This was a great debut! If you like creepy woods, demons and spirits, and magic/forest magic, I definitely recommend it!
Destroy the Day is the final book in the Defy the Night trilogy, and Defy the Night is one of my favorite books! It’s a classic upper YA fantasy with political intrigue, romance, and a sickness spreading through the land. The two main characters are Tessa, a Robinhood-like apothecary, and Corrick, the prince of Kandala and the King’s Justice.
I really enjoyed Destroy the Day. The story dives deeper into the world, politics, and scheming of the Kandala government. Kemmerer’s writing flows really well, and I feel like her writing style works well when switching between POVs.
Speaking of which, Destroy the Day has three different POVs: Tessa, Corrick, and Corrick’s brother, King Harristan. Harristan’s chapters end up taking up about as much of the book as Tessa and Corrick’s, which honestly, I like! I think Harristan is a great character, and he’s such a good foil to Corrick (stoic and reserved to Corrick’s more hotheadedness).
What I really appreciated about this book was Kemmerer’s talent in making me care about every single character. Usually, I’m not into new, important side characters being introduced later in a series, but Kemmerer does a great job of really showing the impact a new character has on Tessa. A couple of side characters from the second book end up having bigger roles, and I enjoyed watching them grow and help the main characters grow. I especially enjoyed the emphasis on friendship.
Another aspect I really loved about this book is the way no one is a straight-up villain. Kemmerer makes all of her characters well-rounded with solid motivations, so no character is black and white (yep—that means there are some well-written morally gray characters in this series).
Now, I have two main gripes in this book that I’ll delve into more below with spoilers. But the first one is that we get barely any scenes with Tessa and Corrick together. Yes, there are solid reasons for this, but in the end of the book, I really felt like they needed some more scenes together before the resolution. My second gripe is with an important plot point near the end that I feel like didn’t fit into two of the character arcs, which I’ll talk more about below.
All in all, I loved this finale! However, I’m still not over the ending, so I have to dock half a star (or moon, in this case) for that.
VERDICT: 🌑🌑🌑🌑🌓
SPOILERS BELOW:
If you’ve read this book already, or if you don’t care about spoilers, hello! So at the end of this book there is a heartbreaking scene of Harristan sacrificing himself for his country and his brother. While I saw this coming, I came to terms with it because I thought it fit Harristan’s character, as he would do anything to save his brother and his people.
…Until Quint, Harristan’s new boyfriend, decides to help him, and they die together. This felt a little bit too much like the “bury your gays” trope (aka gay characters tend to get killed off).
And then something felt off, and I just had a feeling that neither of them actually died. And while (ding ding!) I was right, the way it was revealed rubbed me the wrong way—Harristan and Quint escaped and survived, only to hear that Corrick had already arrived back home and been crowned king. So what did they do? They hid in a cabin with false identities. And not with the intention of saying, “Oh, hey! We actually survived and we’ll come back to the castle now.” Nope. It was to start a new, secret life.
Harristan’s main motivations were to save Corrick and to save his people. He spent this entire book earning the people of Kandala’s trust back, only to decide to push the burden of being king onto his nineteen-year-old brother, who the people trusted even less than Harristan. You just can’t tell me that it’s in character for him to just say, “Too late! Just spread the lie that we died,” AND let his brother believe it for a long time before managing to slip him a note.
Anyway. Did I still love the book? Yes. It just sucked that this was the twist at the end because I didn’t feel like it fit into Harristan’s character arc—not to mention Quint, who is Corrick’s best friend.
Lesson: Don’t bury your gays! Even if they come back from the dead.
Divine Rivals is one of my all-time faves, so it’s an understatement to say I was looking forward to its sequel, Ruthless Vows.
Rebecca Ross’s writing is always lyrical and gorgeous—and it was in Ruthless Vows, as well. I really loved reading this book, but my favorite was definitely the last 3/4. Without going into spoilers, it was heartbreaking, and I loved seeing Iris embrace her badass self.
I docked off a star for 1 main reason:
The pacing in the first half felt off. Certain parts felt too drawn out, and I expected this sequel to be faster paced and more action-packed than the first book, considering the buildup in Divine Rivals and the war.
It’s worth saying that I normally really despise the amnesia trope, but it’s a testimony to Ross’s writing skills that I think she 100% pulled it off.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I’m glad it had a satisfying ending! I’m also grateful that I was able to read this book while I was on my winter vacation.
If you’re looking for a beautifully written upper-YA low fantasy book with WW1 vibes, a war between gods, magical letter writing, and romance, then I highly recommend this duology.
If you’re looking for a fun, mysterious YA fantasy set in a gritty world, you might like Garden of the Cursed!
Synopsis:
Garden of the Cursed follows Marlow, who works as a cursebreaker in Caraza City. When her ex-friend, Adrius, asks her to help break a curse cast on him, Marlow reluctantly takes on his case. While she works to break Adrius’ curse, she begins to uncover what happened to her mother, who mysteriously disappeared a year ago, and she is drawn into a web of deadly secrets and powerful enemies.
What I Liked:
Worldbuilding
I found the word to be really interesting. The Five Families, a group of powerful and corrupt families who control spellcraft, run Caraza, which makes the city itself feel very mysterious and dangerous. The world definitely gave me Six of Crows meets City of Nightmares vibes. There’s a lot of gangs, fighting, and talk of corruption and power.
I’m also a huge fan of curses in stories, so I enjoyed learning about the magic system, which features cards, and how Marlow breaks curses.
Plot
I found the plot to be very fast-paced, fun, and mysterious. I don’t want to give anything away, but I think the different plotlines worked well together.
What I Didn’t Like As Much:
To be honest, I liked pretty much everything about this book! Yes, at times, the dialogue is a little too on the nose. But I like Marlow’s gumption. I obviously liked the world. I like that there’s a cat named Toad and commentary on social classes and power. There’s even fake dating.
The one aspect I’m not a huge fan of is Adrius’ character. He’s supposed to be charming and flirty, but I honestly thought he was just annoying. It made the romantic subplot a little lackluster for me.
VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you’re looking for a YA fantasy filled with curses, gangs, plot twists, mysteries, and a lot of parties and balls, then I recommend Garden of the Cursed!
takes two to book review 