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: Hungry Hearts Edited by Elsie Chapman and Caroline Tung Richmond

Rating: 4 out of 5 hoots

Published: June 18 2019

Number of pages: 352

Format: hardcover

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Genre: contemporary, romance, LGBTQ

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Summary:

Welcome to Hungry Hearts Row, were the answers to life questions are cooked, boiled, kneaded, and baked. Where magic, food, and love are sometimes one and the same. Told in interconnected stories, a group of young adult authors explores the many meanings food can take on beyond mere nourishment.

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: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Rating: 4 out of 5 hoots

Published: April 7 2017

Number of pages: 320

Format: paperback

Publisher: Quirk Books

Genre: contemporary, romance, 

Audience: young adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Geek girl, Elle Wittimer lives for Star Field, her favourite and classic scifi series she grew up with her father before he passed. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Star Field movie, she quickly enters with her eyes on the prize: a pass to ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball and a change to meet with Darian Freeman who is slated to play the Federation Prince Carmindor in the new reboot.

Teen actor, Darian Freeman used to live for cons until he became famous. Now his life is about autographs, interviews, and meet and greets. Playing Carmindor is all he wanted but the fandom thinks he isn’t good enough for the role. As ExcelsiCon draws nearer, he feels more like a fake, until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise.

Minor spoilers ahead!

My Review:

I have heard bloggers and book tubers raving about this book since the year it came out. I have been meaning to buy this book for awhile and I have finally got around to reading it! What we have here is a geeky love story about two characters that are opposites of each other and from different lifestyles: a celebrity bred for his looks and a fangirl who blogs, does cosplay and works part time inside a vegan food truck to pay for her con tickets, and hopefully her ticket away from her step monster mother and stepsisters. 

Book Review: The Mermaid by Christina Henry

Rating: 4 out of 5 hoots

Published: January 19 2018

Number of pages: 325

Format: paperback

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: historical, magical realism, romance

Audience: adult

Get it at: Chapters Indigo

Shelve it at: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Once there lived a mermaid name Amelia who could never be content with the sea, and was so curious about the world above the ocean that she decided to live on land. Once there was a man name P.T. Barnum who longed to make his fortune with his museum of wondrous curiosities, and there was nothing more wondrous than a real mermaid. Amelia agrees to be in his exhibit for Barnum, only if she can leave whenever she likes and so, she continued to walk among the humans. But Barnum has never given up on his moneymaking schemes and wasn’t about to yet with his mermaid.

Review:

Christina Henry writes very dark and gritty fairy tale retellings. First there was Alice and the Red Queen with characters from Alice in Wonderland, then there was a retelling of Peter Pan but a story told in the perspective of Captain Hook inside The Lost Boy, and now we have The Mermaid. A story which I thought was a retelling of the little mermaid but it’s actually a historical fantasy with elements of magical realism (which is better).

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…