Review: Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

Rating: 4 hoots out of 5 hoots

Published: July 7 2020

Number of pages: 336

Format: electronic advanced reading copy

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Genre: fantasy, romance

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

Soraya has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens. She is cursed to be poisonous to the touch and she must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time.

A demon is inside the dungeons and holds the knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of Soraya with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison. Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she wonders who she is and who she is becoming.

My Review:

I received an advanced reading copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Quick note: I received the advanced reading copy late and I took my time reading it because July was a weird month for me. A lot of things were happening to me for the past two months that it was hard for me to focus on reading and writing this review. 

Review: Dark Skies by Danielle L. Jensen

Rating: 2.5 hoots out of 5 hoots

Published: May 5 2020

Number of pages: 464

Format: electronic advanced reading copy

Publisher: Tor Teen

Genre: fantasy, romance

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

 

Summary:

Lydia is a scholar who finds herself tangled up in the plots of the most powerful man in the Calendar Empire. With her life in danger she escapes to the far side of the Endless Seas and is entrapped in a foreign war. Killian is marked by the God of War but his gifts fail him after the Corrupter invades Mudamora. Disgraced, he vows his sword to the crown princess but his oath and loyalty are put into a test. After Mudamora falls beneath the armies of the Corruptor, Lydia and Killian strike a bargain to save those they love the most until there are consequences they both must face to survive.

My Review:

An electronic advanced reading copy was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Funny story, I didn’t know this was a sequel in a series, I honestly thought this was a standalone. I was very surprised to have found this out after I received the electronic ARC! I wasn’t sure what to do as I only had 60 days to read the ARC, and with my job I wasn’t sure I could start and finish the first book on time. Plus the libraries are closed so that didn’t give me a lot of options. I decided to just dive right into Dark Skies and review it as it is without any knowledge about the first book. So here goes my review. 

Review: Nocturna by Maya Motayne

Rating: 2 out of 5 hoots

Published: May 7 2019

Number of pages: 480

Format: hardcover

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Genre: fantasy, romance

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

Set in a Latinx-inspired world, a face-changing thief and a risk taking prince must team up to stop the most powerful evil they accidentally unleashed.

Meet Finn Voy: a thief who can hold a knife under your chin faster than she can change her disguise. As a talented faceshifter, Finn has not seen her own face for many years and she enjoys it. But after caught by a mobster, Finn is forced into stealing a legendary treasure hidden away in the royal palace’s vault, or else be stripped of her power forever.

Meet Prince Alfehr: a young prince full of grief since the murder of his older brother, he is first in line for the Castallan throne. But Alfie can’t help but feel that he will never live up to his brother’s legacy. Obsessed on bringing his brother back, Alfie finds a way even if it means fiddling with forbidden magic.

But after Finn and Alfie’s paths collide, they accidentally unlock an ancient dark power imprisoned for centuries, which if not contained, will devour the world. And with Castallan’s fate in their hands, Alfie and Finn must vanquish what they unleashed before it devours the entire city.

My Review:

An advanced reading copy was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

After I finished reading, I realized that I read a book like this before. V.E. Schwab fans have commented on Goodreads how this book bears too much resemblance to A Darker Shade of Magic, and they are right. It was like reading A Darker Shade of Magic but in a Latinx-inspired world. I don’t mind authors borrowing ides off of each other, but this story was too much like ADSOM, even the characters were strikingly familiar.

Book Review: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

Rating: 2 out of 5 hoots

Published: April 2 2019

Number of pages: 385

Format: advanced reading copy

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Genre: fantasy, romance

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

In a centuries long war a girl, a prince, and a boy with a monstrous secret, meet together in a shadowed world of blood and mysterious saints where a forbidden romance erupts and threatens their plan to assassinate the king and stop the war. 

My Review:

An advanced reading copy was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Ok right after I read ten chapters I had mixed feelings about how the plot and the characters were progressing. Then by the time I met in the middle, the story turned interesting and I found myself pulling through, but then after reading twenty eight more chapters, I was bored, like really bored and worse, I lost all interest with everything. If I drew a diagram that shows my experience with this it would look like a cliff where my experience slowly began as a positive and then after reaching the peak, I fall flat. I made the tough choice to skim through the last seven chapters just to see how this ended.

Book Review: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Rating: 4 out of 5 hoots

Published: February 28 2017

Number of pages: 279

Format: paperback

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Genre: fantasy, adventure

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The king’s scholar, the magus, believes he knows the whereabouts of an ancient treasure. To retrieve it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king’s prison. The magus is interested in the thief’s abilities. When Gen is interested in is anyone’s guess. Their journey to find the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, and lightens up when they share tales of the old gods and goddesses.

My Review:

So funny story, I had not heard this series until after I found about the last book, Return of the Thief that was set to release this year – until they decided to set back the publication date to next year in 2020. That means fans have another year to read the conclusion but this gives me more time to read the rest of the books, so I’m not complaining. I set myself up with no expectations before reading and as a result I was pretty surprise as to how much I really enjoyed this.

Book Review: The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

Rating: 3 out of 5 hoots

Published: January 15 2019

Number of pages: 388

Format: advanced reading copy

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Genre: fantasy, LGBT, romance, historical, mystery

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

It’s 1889 in Paris. In the centre of the city is the Exposition Universelle. A wealthy gentleman and treasure hunter name Severin Montagnet-Alarie has tabs on all the dark secrets. When an elite Order of Babel persuades him to help on a mission, Severin is offered a treasure even he could not refuse: his inheritance.

To hunt the ancient artifact, Severin requires the aid from a team of experts. Together they will join Severin as he explores the darker parts of Paris. What they might find could also change the course of history – but only if they can stay alive.

My Review:

An advanced reading copy was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

There are two things that I like about this book: the writing and the story. This was my first time reading from Roshani Chokshi and at last time’s TeenReads Preview my Twitter friend, Nafiza told me her writing is really good. I couldn’t wait to take the ARC home and read it because if Nafiza says that it’s good, then it must be; I trust her word. Oh and just a quick shout out, Nafiza Azad is coming out with her debut book The Candle in the Flame this year. I’m so excited for her release! And if you haven’t seen the cover and synopsis yet then you can check it out here on Goodreads. Okay enough said, back to my review…

Review: Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie Mclemore

Rating: 3 out of 5 hoots

Published: October 9 2018

Number of pages: 375

Format: hardcover

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Genre: fantasy, LGBT, magical realism, romance

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

The del Cisne girls are not only sisters-they are opposites and rivals. Blanca is obedient and graceful, and Rosa is manipulative and vicious. They know that of the powerful curse passed down for generations, that their family is bound to swans where one sister is chosen to turn into a swan and the other sister stays human.

But when two local boys cross their paths, unbeknown to them they are drawn to the swan’s dangerous game and are intertwined with the strange and the unpredictable magic found deep in the woods. Only the truths that face all four of them could save or destroy them.

Review: The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

Rating: 5 out of 5 hoots

Published: October 2 2018

Number of pages: 450

Format: hardcover

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Genre: fantasy, adventure, historical fiction, mystery

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

A year after her brother Monty’s whirlwind grand European tour, Felicity has returned to England to study medicine. Meanwhile, avoiding a marriage proposal of a lovestruck suitor in Edinburgh. But her intellect and passion will never be acknowledged by the school administrators who see men as the sole guardians of science.

But then Felicity learns about her old childhood friend marrying a doctor who she idolizes in Germany, and an opportunity opens. Felicity believes if she could meet her idol then this man might be able to change her future. But she has no money for the trip. Luckily, a mysterious woman is willing to pay for her way, so long as she is allowed to travel as her maid in disguise.

In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees but once the woman’s true motives are discovered, Felicity regrets her decision after she becomes part of a perilous quest from the German countryside to Zurich and to the secrets beneath the waters of the Atlantic.