Tag: ya fantasy

What The River Knows by Isabel Ibañez

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Alexis:

What the River Knows is a historical fantasy novel set in late 1800’s Egypt. When Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera’s parents die during an adventure-gone-wrong in their beloved Egypt, Inez defies her new guardian, her uncle’s, order and arrives in Egypt. She won’t rest until she discovers what happened to her parents and learns how a gold ring with old-world magic, which her father mailed her before he died, fits into the narrative. Soon, she finds herself on a dangerous yet mysterious archaeological adventure with her uncle, his young assistant named Whit, and their crew.

What the River Knows is full of adventure and Egyptian history. I definitely has The Mummy but make it YA vibes (there aren’t any undead mummies, however). My favorite part of this book is how you become so immersed in the setting. Ibañez definitely did her research! I loved reading about the politics of the time period, as well as the ancient history of Egypt, which plays a large role in the story. Ibanez touches on British colonialism and the importance of history and not stealing artifacts.   

The actual fantasy aspect of this book is fairly minimal, as magic only clings to old objects in this version of history. However, I found it works well because the magic didn’t overpower the importance of the setting and the archaeology. 

I also enjoyed the romance. Inez and Whit are both headstrong characters, and it was fun to read about their tension and growing forbidden relationship. I especially appreciate Inez’ resolve, especially in a time period where women had no agency over their own lives, and she was unfortunately naive in a lot of situations. 

My biggest critique is that I could tell the story is setting up for a sequel. The middle drags a little bit, especially the mystery. A lot of questions and mysteries were piled up on top of each other, and we didn’t get any answers until about 75% of the way into the story. I think having a couple of reveals earlier would’ve helped propel the plot along.

Overall, I loved the adventure, history, and romance in this book. If you’re looking for a fun YA fantasy, then look out for What the River Knows, pub date November 14, 2023!

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Thanks so much to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for sending me an ARC for review!

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: 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: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Review: The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

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The Sunbearer Trials rests on a marble table next to a white stuffed pumpkin and two candles.

Alexis:

The Sunbearer Trials follows Teo, a 17-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of Quetzal, goddess of birds.

This book is described as Percy Jackson meets The Hunger Games, and that’s the perfect description. 

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

As each new decade begins, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. Ten semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are selected by Sol himself as the most worthy to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all—they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body used to fuel the Sun Stones that will protect the people of Reino del Sol for the next ten years.

In The Sunbearer Trials, I really enjoyed Thomas’ trademark voicy characters and fun writing style. The story is nice and fast-paced, and everyone’s outfits and superpowers sound so cool. I also like how this Mexican-inspired fantasy world is very diverse and inclusive, and how Teo’s wings play a role in the story and his trans identity.

While this was a fun read, there are some aspects that keep me from rating this higher.

For one, I never feel like the stakes are high enough. I mean, sure, one of the contenders will be sacrificed at the end, but the trials themselves don’t feel big enough to me. The games in The Hunger Games are thrilling to read because the stakes are so high, but in The Sunbearer Trials, Teo doesn’t even want to be there, much less take them very seriously. His motivation is to just…get through the trials so he can go back home. His lack of motivation plus the lack of high stakes meant I skimmed certain sections of the trials.

At times, this story feels more like Percy Jackson, aka middle grade. Now, I’m aware that I’m saying this as an adult reader who mostly reads YA, so maybe younger readers will feel differently. However, Teo is 17-years-old, and oftentimes, I thought he sounds like he should be closer to 14. Keep in mind reading is a personal experience and everyone interprets and reads things differently, but that’s how I perceived the character while reading this book. 

My last point is that the blurb makes it sound like this is going to be a high fantasy story, so imagine my surprise when the characters have phones and are watching TV. While I definitely think more fantasy worlds need modern technology and this is a cool aspect, moments of it took me out of the story. The world has its own version of Instagram and TikTok, and there’s also a reference to furries (what is up with books mentioning furries?? I read another one earlier this year that did the same thing).

That being said, the ending cranked up the stakes, which is exactly what I wanted! This is only the first book in a series, and the series definitely has a lot of potential. I’m interested in getting to know the large cast of characters better and to see what happens next. 

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐

Review: Unraveller by Frances Hardinge

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Alexis is wearing a yellow flannel and holding the UK copy of Unraveller in front of a black bookshelf.

Alexis:

I would read Frances Hardinge’s grocery list if she let me; she’s one of my auto-buy authors. I’m also obsessed with this spooky cover (despite my dislike of spiders!). ⁣
⁣
This was the perfect read to ease into autumn. In classic Hardinge fashion, Unraveller is beautifully and darkly atmospheric. I’ve always been obsessed with her writing style. And the world is unique and features a creepy forest/swamp called the Wilds and spider-like creatures called the Little Brothers. ⁣
⁣
The story follows Kellen, a rare unraveller of curses, and Nettle, a girl who was formerly cursed to become a heron, as they work to unravel nasty curses—and uncover plots and mysteries along the way. ⁣
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Unraveller reads like part dark fairytale and part mystery, and of course it’s a 5 ⭐ read for me. ⁣
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I bought the UK edition, but look out for Unraveller in the US on January 10, 2023! ⁣

Book Recs for Pride Month

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Alexis sits in a coffee shop holding an iced London Fog latte.

Alexis:

Let’s talk Pride Month!

I put together a list of books that you might not know feature LGBTQA
characters.

  • Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko: Ace
  • Legendborn by Tracy Deonn: Nonbinary, pansexual, and gay
  • The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart:
    Sapphic
  • The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid: Sapphic
  • Forestborn by Elayne Becker: m/m romance

And of course, my favorite LGBTQA-centered reads that I always recommend are

  • Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
  • Tin Man by Sarah Winman
  • Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters
  • Under the Whispering Door and
  • The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
  • We Are Okay by Nina Lacour

Happy reading!

 

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!