All posts in Fantasy

Fireblood

By Brookelorren on 1 Comment

I recently read Fireblood by Elly Blake. It’s been nearly two years since I read the first book, Frostblood. I liked the story, but I wasn’t enamored with the book (probably because I listened to the audiobook and I didn’t care for the narrator). I read a physical copy of Fireblood so I wouldn’t have those problems.

Because this is the second book in a trilogy, there are probably spoilers for the first book. You can read my review for book 1 here.

Ruby is an anomaly at the frost court. If she didn’t have the favor of the king, Arcus–King Arkanus–she wouldn’t be there at all. Even so, she feels out of place. So when she gets the chance to see the fire kingdom, Sudesia, she takes it. Especially since the fire nation might be the key to destroying the Minax, which is now wreaking havoc in the countryside.

Of course, things aren’t quite as simple as Ruby would hope them to be. There’s trouble at home, Tempesia, there’s trouble in Sudesia, and–there may be a love triangle in this book.

I enjoyed this book and immediately added Nightblood to my TBR lottery. It’s hard to tell whether I liked this book better because I wasn’t listening to the audiobook or whether the book was better, but there was a lot going on in this book from start to finish. And now I want to find out how this ends–because while Ruby meets her goals for this book, there’s another difficulty that arises that she’ll need another book for.

Fireblood is an excellent sequel to Frostblood. It was well-written, had excitement throughout, and I cared about the main character, Ruby. I’m looking forward to reading the final book in the trilogy, Nightblood, although I’ll probably wait until I draw its number in the TBR lottery before I read it, since there’s so many other books I also want to read on that list.

My “A Sky Beyond the Storm” Prediction

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A Sky Beyond the Storm

Is anybody else excited about A Sky Beyond the Storm like I am? I’m so glad I buy my books with Amazon gift cards, because nobody in our house has worked since April, and I wouldn’t be able to afford it now.

Anyway, the Kindle edition drops in a little less than 1 hour and 40 minutes. I’m getting the hardback, so I’ll have to wait a bit. It was shipped via Amazon, so it could arrive any time between morning and afternoon. I teach until 3 tomorrow, and then I have a class planning meeting for next semester after that, so I won’t get to dive in until early afternoon anyway.

I reread the books this fall, and came up with a theory of how it will end, based on my reread and the cover to this book. Or at least one aspect of the ending. I don’t know if I’m right or not, but I’m going to put it here. I’m going to make the text color the same as the background in the unlikely event that I’m right. I’ll update this after I read the book with whether I was right or not. You can highlight it to see my thoughts.

So here’s my theory about Laia and Elias:

You know how in the past, there was more than one Soul Catcher? My theory is that Laia will become a Soul Catcher and she will live with Elias as an additional Soul Catcher and live happily ever after.

I’m guessing lots of other people will die (including Helene, based on something Cain said to her), and there may be other Soul Catchers, but after much death and tears, the good people will win the war.

The book is 528 pages, so it might take a few days to find out whether I’m right or not, but whether I am or not, I’m sure it’s going to be an amazing–and heartbreaking–book.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

VE Schwab is one of those authors whom I own several books from, but I haven’t read many (before Addie LaRue, I had only read This Savage Song). The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one of those books that you hear about long before you get the chance to read it. Ms. Schwab has been talking about this book on social media for a long time. It came out this week, and I highly recommend it.

What’s the Book About?

Addie was born in 1691 in the small village of Villon, France. She reminds me a lot of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, except instead of being a reader, she’s an artist. She wants more from life than that of a simple life being a wife and mother, never leaving her village, and dying without ever seeing or doing much else. The only trouble is, everyone expects her to carry out this role. This is how she finds herself in a wedding dress, being practically forced to marry someone she’s not in love with.

This is when she makes her “deal with the devil.” She asks to be free. Although she prayed and prayed and prayed to all the gods she can think of, the only one that answers is a god that answers after dark. She had been warned not to pray to them, but she’s out of options. He agrees to her deal, and she unwittingly agrees to a deal where she never dies or ages, but nobody ever remembers her.

Until one day–someone does remember her.

My Thoughts

This book is great. The story masterfully weaves the two timelines together: one that takes place in 2014, when she meets the man that remembers her, and the other starting in 1714, when she makes the deal with the devil. We learn about how she made the deal, how she survived, how she felt. Some things are hinted at, but we don’t learn the details of until well into the book. I didn’t find one timeline any more compelling than the other. They were both great.

As someone who enjoys history, I found it very interesting to see Addie live through three hundred years of it. Don’t worry, although the book is 448 pages, you don’t have to watch Addie live through all 300 years of her history; it only touches on the highlights. She lives through the French Revolution, World War II, and attends a speakeasy during the Roaring 20s. It’s not a history book, but you get to see a scene or two during these time periods, which I found interesting.

Addie as a person is great. She’s strong-willed like Belle, and I found her to be a likeable character. The man she meets in 2014 is also likeable, but does have some character development that he needs to work on. We do get to see that in the book, however.

This book made me cry because I missed my grandma, and call my mom. It must be difficult to live for so long and lose the people that are closest to you. In Addie’s case, since nobody could remember her, it was difficult to become close to anyone after she made her deal.

There’s a twist at the end which I’m not going to spoil. I don’t think it’s meant to be shocking–you see hints of what the twist is as the story progresses. As I read the very last section, I thought it was amazingly clever how the story was pieced together.

“Happiness is brief, and history is lasting, and in the end,” he says, “everyone wants to be remembered.”

The Invisible life of Addie LaRue (ARC), loc. 5257

Conclusion

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was a great book, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up on my list of best books from 2020. Not only was it a very clever book, it kept me wanting to read more. Even though my reading has been way down this year, I’m super happy that I read this book. This is one of Ms. Schwab’s adult books, so I wouldn’t recommend it to her middle grade readers or her younger young adult readers, but if you’re 16 and up and looking for a story about time and what it’s like to go through a long life where nobody remembers you, I definitely recommend it.

The Damned

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The Damned cover

I recently read Renée Ahdieh’s The Damned on audiobook. I always try to have one audiobook going, and when I saw this was available at my library, I was surprised.

The Damned is the second book in The Beautiful duology. This review contains spoilers, but you can read my review of The Beautiful instead, if you haven’t read the first book.

Celine has no memories of Sébastien Saint Germain, but she feels like something is wrong. Everyone tells her that Michael saved her from a brutal attack, and he’s been spending a lot of time with her. He’s interested in more than friendship with Celine, but she doesn’t really feel a passion for him. Should she settle?

Meanwhile, Sébastien is learning how to be a vampire, and we learn more secrets about him and the fey creatures he hangs around.

With the way The Beautiful ended, of course Celine and Sébastien meet up again. There are surprises in store for them, however. I was surprised at some of the things that were revealed in this book. I certainly did not expect this series to take the turn that it did. But I enjoyed it nevertheless.

While I enjoyed most of this book, I thought it ended quite abruptly. There were things revealed in this book that I thought should have been explored more thoroughly. I don’t think a third book is planned for this series, but it really should have one.

Update: It IS getting a third book so the ending is fine.

Conclusion

The Damned was a good continuation of The Beautiful duology; however, there were several twists that were introduced in this book that should have had further exploration. (Edit: It IS getting a third book!) I think this series should have been a trilogy. Otherwise, I did enjoy reading this book.

The Crow Rider

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The Crow Rider

I recently read The Crow Rider by Kalyn Josephson (thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the Advanced Reader Copy, sorry I’m late with this because–pandemic). It is the second book in The Storm Crow duology; as a result, there are spoilers. If you haven’t read the first book, you can read my review of The Storm Crow instead. This book wraps up the duology nicely.

Thia has left Illucia; the queen is dead-set on waging a war against her people and she needs allies. Meanwhile, she is also conflicted in her feelings about Ericen. Can he be trusted? Does she care about him?

The Crow Rider does an outstanding job of covering the emotions one might go through in a traumatic situation (or even a ::cough cough:: pandemic). Thia went through a deep depression in the last book; now, she’s dealing with feelings of inadequacy in the face of insurmountable odds. She’s not the only person in this book to deal with trauma. Even Res, the crow, goes through a period of difficulty. The villain’s past, and how she became the horrible person she turned out to be, is explained here (but not in an infodumpy type of way).

Another thing I loved about this book were the battle scenes. They were well-done and I could imagine them in my head. There were no guarantees either. In a couple places, I thought that perhaps all was lost.

The Crow Rider answers questions and adds new magical depth to the world. Where did the crow magic come from in the first place? Why can only certain people hatch eggs? If you’ve been wondering this and other questions, they’re answered here.

The only downside to this book that I can think of is that it has a huge cast. If you haven’t started the series yet, I would recommend you read The Storm Crow and The Crow Rider in a short time span. There were some characters I had forgotten about that get re-introduced later in the book and it was a little confusing. Ms. Josephson does do a good job at explaining who they are, but still–the cast seemed a little large.

Conclusion

If you liked The Storm Crow, I recommend you finish reading the duology with this great book. I don’t recommend The Crow Rider if you haven’t read the first book; a lot of things in this book are dependent on events from the first book. It captures emotion well, has a realistic teen protagonist, and wraps up everything nicely.

Once a King

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Once a King cover

One of the things I’ve been doing since this coronavirus threat started strangling the world is taking more walks. This means… more audiobooks! I just finished listening to Once a King, part of the Clash of Kingdoms series by Erin Summerill. While I enjoyed the book itself, I didn’t care for the audio narration.

The Story

Once a King is narrated by Aodren, king of Malam, and Lirra Barret, daughter of the Arch-Traitor of Malam, and a wind channeler. Many people in the kingdom are gathered at a summit of nations. King Aodren is concerned because his father murdered channelers; he’s trying to right the wrongs of the past, but a lot of people don’t want to put the past behind.

Lirra’s father sends her a letter and asks her to deliver it to the “Bloody King of Malam,” as she calls him. They don’t have any respect for each other at first, but as they work together to solve a problem that is threatening the citizens of Malam–and Lirra’s da–they begin to like each other.

My Thoughts

I enjoyed the story, but I don’t think I was as enthralled by Once a King as I was with Ever the Hunted and Ever the Brave. I think the character’s relationship in the first two books of this series was more engaging. However, part of this could be due to the fact that I listened to this via audiobook, which I’ll get to later.

I enjoyed the setting in this book, and the villain did surprise me. There were tense moments and how they got out of these situations surprised me as well.

The Audiobook

I really did not like the audiobook narration. Almost everybody’s accents were unnatural and got on my nerves. King Aodren narrated half the book and I especially didn’t like his voice. He spoke with drawn out words that made him seem like he was bored. The side characters often had nasally, drawling, or otherwise unnatural voices that were often more annoying than not.

Overall

If you enjoyed Ever the Hunted and Ever the Brave, you’ll probably like Once a King. This book can be enjoyed without reading the other two books; however, they do give the background information on the magic system that would make getting into this book easier. Britta and Cohen get the briefest of mentions in this book (they’re away on their honeymoon), so don’t bother looking for more on that couple. If you liked the world and the magic system and want a little more of the world, I recommend this book. I don’t recommend the audiobook though.

Night of the Dragon

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Night of the Dragon cover

Hello! I recently read Julie Kagawa’s Night of the Dragon. I really liked it (and look at that drool-worthy cover!). It is the third book in the Shadow of the Fox trilogy. If you haven’t read any of the other books, you might want to binge this series while you’re social distancing. Because this is the third book in the series, there may be spoilers for this review. You can read my reviews for Shadow of the Fox and Soul of the Sword, the two previous books, at the links above. A big thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for providing me with Advanced Reader Copies!

Yumeko, Tatsumi/Hakaimono, and their companions must finish their quest to disrupt the Night of the Wish. Of course, as with any great adventure, their final leg of the journey is not without its perils. The final battle won’t be easy either. It left me in tears. But my tears of sadness turned into sweet tears of happiness at the end, so you’ll be okay reading this book.

Night of the Dragon has a massive plot twist. I won’t tell you what it is, but the book will answer questions you didn’t even know you had. There are villains in this book you weren’t even aware of. But I absolutely loved it.

The Setting

I loved Night of the Dragon. One of the things I enjoyed about the Shadow of the Fox trilogy is the medieval Japanese setting. In a really odd coincidence, I just happen to be reading an old book from 1970, Japan: From Prehistory to Modern Times by John Whitney Hall, right now. You don’t have to be reading a history book on medieval Japan to enjoy the setting (I loved the first two books last year) but it is making it more interesting for me. There are some terms that you might find unfamiliar, but there’s a glossary at the end and you can always google any unknown words. Even though there are things you might be unfamiliar with, to me, it makes the setting stand out even more.

The Characters

I love these characters! They all have come a long way since Shadow of the Fox, where Yumeko was a naïve half-kitsune and the rest of them all had something to learn. They are still the people they started this journey out as, only better. In this final segment of the story, they step up and fulfill their destinies. I can’t say much else because I don’t want to spoil the plot, but I did love how it all turned out. Even though it made me cry.

Conclusion

Night of the Dragon is definitely worth reading. A lot in this book’s plot depends on the other two books in the series, so you’ll definitely want to read those first. If you have read those (or if you haven’t, just binge all three books) then I definitely recommend this book. It will probably put you in tears (fair warning) but it was well worth reading.

Sensational

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Sensational cover

I recently finished reading Sensational by Jodie Lynn Zdrock. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy! This is the sequel to Spectacle, which came out last year (you can read my review here). This review assumes you’ve already read the first book, so if you don’t want spoilers or me to throw out confusing terms, then read the first book first.

It’s now 1889, and the World’s Fair has come to Paris. Nathalie is working at Le Petit Journal as well as the public morgue, where the police get her input as an Insightful. She has a boyfriend, Jules, who is also an insightful. As the World’s Fair gets into full swing, another round of murders begins. Nathalie wants to help put a stop to it.

What I Liked

Sensational brings you into the World’s Faire, which is pretty cool. It’s fun to be transported into a time when people weren’t necessarily familiar with many of the countries of the world, like we are today. In Nathalie’s world, the Eiffel Tower is new, and of course, there are also no phones or electrical technology.

Nathalie has great relationships with her friends and family. She lost her best friend towards the end of Spectacle, although we are two years into the future with this book, and the pain has ebbed a bit. She is faced with new pain regarding her family and friends, but Sensational isn’t a rehash of Spectacle.

The story itself has a satisfying ending.

What I Liked Less

Sensational didn’t seem to have quite the same magic that Spectacle did. There weren’t any thrilling chases through the catacombs, Nathalie’s Insightful powers were old hat, and the public morgue wasn’t a shock to me as a reader. I still liked the story, but not to the same degree that I did the first book in the duology.

Conclusion

If you’ve read Spectacle and really enjoyed it, then I do recommend you go ahead and read Sensational, especially if you’re curious about what happens to Nathalie. I liked it, even though I wasn’t as enamored with it as I was the first book. If you thought Spectacle was only so-so, then I wouldn’t move it to the top of your TBR list.

Chain of Gold

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Chain of Gold cover

One of my most anticipated books for the past year has been Cassandra Clare’s Chain of Gold. Funny, I was so concerned about reading all the March 3 releases and I end up getting two of them as ARCs. Once again, thank you to Bookish First and Margaret K. McElderry Books for providing me with an advanced reader copy! If you’d like to join Bookish First, you can use my referral code: 56cf541090ca608b4. We both get points if you use it!

When we first start Chain of Gold, two people are moving to London: Cordelia Carstairs, who has few London friends because her family has been living abroad for years, and Grace Blackthorn, whom James Herondale loves. Or thinks he loves. The city has seen very few demon attacks recently, but things are about to heat up in the supernatural realm.

If you’ve read “The Midnight Heir”, then you know that Grace’s adoptive mother, Tatiana Blackthorn, doesn’t approve of James. She hates the Herondales because of what happened to her parents in The Infernal Devices. Going into this story, I had seen the Shadowhunter found family tree, but if you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil the end for you. But Tatiana’s disapproval of Herondales and Lightwoods does propel some of the storyline.

Cordelia’s dad is in trouble. After an expedition went wrong, he was put under house arrest in Idris. Cordelia wants him to be found innocent, so she feels she needs to make influential friends. The friends she makes just happen to be the children of the characters from The Infernal Devices. While she is getting adjusted in the new city, all hell breaks loose. In some ways, literally. Cordelia and her new friends have to save the Shadowhunters from this new threat.

What I Liked

Chain of Gold is another outstanding Shadowhunters novel. I loved the characters, especially James and Cordelia. Cordelia’s future parabatai and James’s sister Lucie is a budding novelist and is a sweetheart. Then there’s Matthew, who drinks a little too much and has a troubled past. If you read “Cast Long Shadows” from Ghosts of the Shadow Market then you’ll know what happened. Anna, Christopher, and Thomas are also main characters that Cordelia spends time with that all have their own personalities.

The setting of Chain of Gold is different from that of The Infernal Devices. The book is set in 1903 (with some flashbacks to previous times) and Ms. Clare did a great job making it feel like a different time than that of her previous series. Technology has advanced as well as the clothing and slang the characters use. Tessa and Will, who are now in charge of the London Institute, have updated the Institute, so the decor is correct for 1903. If you read The Dark Artifices, then you’ll probably guess they were the last people to remodel the place. Clare is a master of worldbuilding and it is one of the things I love about her books.

If you’ve seen the Shadowhunters’ found family tree, then you might wonder as you start reading the book “how does X end up with Y?” I’m trying to avoid spoilers here. You find out why these two people end up together at the end of the book, and it makes a lot of sense.

Anything I Didn’t Like?

I have to wait until March 21, 2021 to read Chain of Iron. I want to find out what happens next! It doesn’t end on a huge cliffhanger like Lord of Shadows does, but I still want more.

Conclusion

Chain of Gold is another excellent book in the Shadowhunters universe. I loved the characters and the setting, and I highly recommend it. If you’ve never read any Shadowhunter books before, you can still read this one, but the other books are worthwhile. You might like the books better if you read The Infernal Devices along with some of the companion short stories that go along with this book. However, if you want to dive into this book without reading the others, you can, but you’ll probably want to go back and read the others while waiting for Chain of Iron next year.

I pre-ordered this book with my Christmas money in 2018 and it was worth the year+ wait.

Belle Révolte

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Belle Révolte

I recently finished reading Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller. Thank you so much Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an advanced reader copy! This book released February 4th. I feel a little bad that I’m behind on my ARCs, but I suppose that happens sometimes.

Emilie de Marais is a noble whose mother wants her to be a lady, learning how to divine and use the “midnight arts.” It’s an acceptable vocation for someone of her status and gender. She has other dreams, wanting to do the “noonday arts” and heal people, which can be a little gruesome and is considered to be unladylike. She sees her chance to change her fate when she runs across a peasant girl that looks a little like her.

The peasant girl, Annette, really wants to learn to be a diviner. Emilie asks if she’d like to swap. Annette takes her place at the fancy school Emilie is supposed to attend, while Emilie takes her chance at going to the university down the street. The arrangement makes both of them happy.

Society, however, is on the verge of revolution. The king is not a good man and is trying to quash the unrest. In their world, magic takes a toll on a person’s body. Using too much magic leads to an early death. Many nobles employ “hacks” to take the physical punishment for them. When Emilie discovers one of the physicians leaving one of their hacks on the verge of death, she decides to take action.

What I Liked

Belle Révolte had compelling characters and an interesting storyline. I felt empathy for Emilie. Although I’ve never been prevented from doing something I wanted to because of my gender, I did major in computer science and spend some time in the military. Also, who doesn’t love a good story where heroines take on a corrupt society to make the world a little more equal for everyone?

I didn’t have trouble picturing the setting.

What I Liked Less

The story seemed to be slightly lacking in it’s execution. There were points in the story where I had difficulty picturing what was going on. There were a few places that I thought needed a little more editing. Because the premise behind the book was good and I liked the characters, I was able to overlook this, but I definitely felt the story could have used some improvement in this area.

Overall

Overall, I enjoyed Belle Révolte and was glad I read it. The book has ace representation which can be rare. The characters and overall story were great. It’s not award-winning fiction, and if fantasy isn’t your genre or you don’t find the premise appealing, I won’t try to convince you to read it on the beautiful prose alone, but if you enjoy fantasy stories where the girls aren’t afraid to defy gender stereotypes and end up taking on a corrupt kingdom, I recommend it.