All posts in Fantasy

Shadow and Bone was Amazing!

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Shadow and Bone cover

Shadow and Bone is the first book in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Verse books. For months, I’ve heard people ooh and aah over the Six of Crows duology. Since I tend to believe in starting book series from the very beginning, I always said to myself “I have to read the Grisha Verse books first.” I finally started the series, and I was not disappointed.

Alina is an orphan girl who now works in Ravka’s army with her best friend, Mal. While Mal seems to be able to do everything right, Alina is mediocre at best. Everything changes when her unit tries to cross the dangerous Shadow Fold. When Mal is nearly killed, a dormant force inside her awakens and saves his life. It also changes her life forever.

Alina is kidnapped and taken to The Little Palace, where she learns that she is a Grisha (magically able to manipulate matter in some way) and hones her magic skills. She misses Mal, although she makes new friends along the way. One of the people she meets is The Darkling, who tells her that she is unique among Grisha; he tries to befriend her (and more). You’ll have to read the book to see how it turns out.

What I Loved

Is there anything I didn’t love about this book? I actually can’t think of anything. I loved the characters, and I thought Alina and Mal were so sweet together. It made me so sad to see them forced apart as they were. I know that some people who read this series rooted for Alina and The Darkling to develop a relationship, but I was rooting for Alina and Mal from the beginning.

I adored the Russian vibe of this book! Since I speak Russian and go to a Russian meetup group almost every week, when I discovered that Ravka has this Russian thing going on, I was overjoyed! I didn’t know about that before reading this book. Had I known this, I probably would have read this series sooner.

Conclusion

After finishing Shadow and Bone, I went on to read the remainder of the Grisha Verse series, and I loved it. I’m now listening to Six of Crows on audiobook. This universe is amazing and I love Leigh Bardugo’s writing. I highly recommend this book and plan to read more of her books in the future.

Finale Goes Out With a Bang

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Finale cover

I was so excited when I got an email from Netgalley saying I was approved to read Finale by Stephanie Garber. I loved Caraval and Legendary, and had already pre-ordered it. My Advanced Review copy was given to me in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved this book.

Because this is the third book in a series, this review contains spoilers from the previous two books.

Finale starts shortly after Legendary ends. Legend is going to be the emperor, and after leaving Tella at the end of the last book, only visits her in dreams. Their mother is still asleep. Scarlett has decided that she wants to get to know her former fiancée Nicholas even though she has feelings for Julian. Nothing is perfect.

And everything is about to get worse.

When the Fates start waking up, Tella witnesses something heartbreaking… and disturbing. She vows to get back at The Fallen Star, who seems to be the worst of the Fates. In order to hurt him, she has to find out what his weakness is. Then she has to exploit it to kill him.

Meanwhile, Scarlett decided that she wanted to have Julian and Nicholas compete with each other so she can decide who she will marry. Almost as soon as she makes that deal, she realizes that she wants Julian. Before she can tell them both that, her life turns south as well.

What follows is a beautiful, twisty story where secrets are revealed, people have to work with people they otherwise wouldn’t want to work with, and love triangles resolve quite nicely. All of this neatly packaged amidst a sea of gorgeous words and lines that give me all the feels.

I recently started a book journal where I write down some of my favorite quotes and reactions to books I read. There were so many quotes I wrote down from this book. “She looked the way Love might have looked if Love looked in a mirror, infectuously happy and radiantly beautiful.” Also I loved the line “maybe no one deserved love. Maybe love was always a gift.” My favorite line in the book was the last two sentences of chapter 59. I can’t quote it here because of spoilers.

The heart on the cover of Finale tells you exactly how I feel about it. The ending was amazing. I highly recommend it.

The Light Between Worlds

By Brookelorren on 4 Comments
The Light Between Worlds cover

I recently read The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth. Look at that cover! Plus, Ms. Weymouth is a really sweet lady, so I ended up pre-ordering her book. The Light Between Worlds is inspired by Narnia. Who doesn’t love Narnia? I found that my favorite aspect of this book didn’t have anything to do with C.S. Lewis’s world, however.

In The Light Between Worlds, Evelyn (the Lucy character) longs to return to Narnia, errr… The Woodlands, and is having difficulty functioning in the real world. Just like in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the characters spent years in the alternate universe, and when they returned to World War II Britain, they had to re-adjust to being children again. Evelyn couldn’t make that transition.

Philippa (the Susan character) would like Evelyn to become a functioning member of society again, and when it doesn’t happen, she’s frustrated, and this puts a strain on their relationship. Not only does Philippa feel guilt over what happens next, she feels guilt over a decision she made long ago…

The book is told in two sections, with the first half focusing on Evelyn’s voice, and the second half in Philippa’s.

Narnia Inspiration

To be honest, the Narnia inspiration was my least favorite aspect of this book. The Narnia books are still copyrighted until 2034. It doesn’t look like the Lewis estate is interested in allowing permission for an extension of their work. Another author, Francis Spufford, actually tried to get a Narnia work published; the estate won’t talk to him. So the book is like trying to tell the story without any of the original characters or the original world. Although we know who all the characters are supposed to be, it’s just not the same.

Where This Book Shines

Although I wasn’t exactly impressed with the Narnia inspiration, this book does shine when it comes to the relationship between sisters and how they deal with guild and depression. Philippa is overwhelmed with guilt. Evelyn is depressed because she had to leave the place where she felt most at home and could never return. I enjoyed the second half of the book (where this seems to be the main focus) better than the first part.

The setting, characters, and language of the book were nice enough and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for Narnia fanfiction, then you’re probably better off heading over to AO3 – there are thousands of stories there to choose from, and they don’t have to hide the characters behind false names. However, The Light Between Worlds is much more than just thinly disguised fanfiction. This is a fantastic story about sisters, guilt, and depression, and I recommend it for that aspect.

Tower of Dawn

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Tower of Dawn cover

Tower of Dawn is the sixth book in Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series. Like the other later books in this series, this book is epic in size, but it’s well worth the read.

I was sad to say goodbye to Aelin and her friends to read this book, but a lot goes on in this book that will tie into the big finale when I finally get around to reading Kingdom of Ash.

Chaol and Nesryn have traveled to the Southern continent in hopes of finding a healer that might be able to repair Chaol’s broken body. At the same time, they’re hoping to find some allies to help them in the upcoming war. Here, we find more major worldbuilding going on, as well as some new characters. In a book series this epic, it can be a little difficult to keep track of everyone and every place. Fortunately, there are plenty of clues for those of us who get a little hazy on the details after a while (it’s been a few months since I read the last book with Chaol in it, Queen of Shadows. I can imagine what it would be like if you haven’t read that book since it was first released!).

Chaol’s healer Yrene is talented, but she has a few things against the old king, and she initially takes this out on Chaol. Yrene is a complex character like many other people in this series, and I enjoyed learning about her and her family. Eventually, Yrens is able to see Chaol as more than just the former king’s Captain of the Guard.

The royal family in Tower of Dawn is roughly based on the khaganate, which I thought was pretty cool to see. As a student of history, it was interesting to see elements of this historical civilization come to life.

You won’t want to skip over Tower of Dawn and move straight to Kingdom of Ash, because there are some significant revelations you’ll find in this book. My husband is better at guessing where plots are headed than I am, but I was surprised at some of the things that were revealed. Plus, you want to find out whether Chaol is healed or not.

I don’t think Tower of Dawn was my favorite book in the series, but I still enjoyed it a lot and was glad to read it. Perhaps the only drawback to this book is that 700 pages can be a bit much sometimes. Anyway, if you’ve followed this series so far and liked it, I recommend you continue with this book.

Empire of Storms

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Empire of Storms cover

One of the outstanding books I’ve read this year is Empire of Storms, the fifth installment in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. A part of me was disappointed to finish the book and move on to Tower of Dawn (although I wasn’t disappointed with that book either). I still have to finish Kingdom of Ash, which I’m looking forward to reading this spring.

Aelin is supposed to be the queen of Terrassin, but not everybody wants to see her that way. Even a girl with a queenly bloodline that can incinerate cities as easily as taking a walk through the park needs supporters, and with the dire situation of the world, she can’t exactly incinerate her way onto the throne. Aelin makes some very shrewd decisions that I’m sure will pay off when we rejoin her in Kingdom of Ash.

Empire of Storms spends a lot of time with different points of view. Sometimes I was disappointed in leaving one POV for another, but the story kept on building and it was great nonetheless. There are many great characters in this book, and even though Chaol is gone from the scene (for now), many of them meet up for an epic showdown towards the end of the book.

The ending of Empire of Storms was absolutely crazy. I’m not sure if I had been Aelin I would have made the same decision she did, but she did what she thought was right and I can’t wait so see how everything works out in Kingdom of Ash. It’s an ending where you are left scratching your head and wondering how they’re going to make it.

There is some mature content in this book that isn’t in the previous ToG books, so I wouldn’t recommend this for younger teens. Aelin and Rowan do find some time alone… and end up enjoying it quite a bit.

The worldbuilding here is epic and as a writer… I just hope that I can do worldbuilding even a fraction as well in my books as in these. The territory is so vast that as a reader (who didn’t binge read the series) I sometimes have difficulty keeping track of all the towns and people, but I always have a general idea of where they are on the map, so I don’t really need to. The world is populated with animals and magical creatures that Lysandra (the shape-shifter) must have had a blast with.

The whole plot is so complex and involved that I can tell it took a lot of planning to create it. But real world wars are complex too… that’s why historians write volumes on events like World War I.

If you’ve enjoyed the previous Throne of Glass books, I recommend you continue with Empire of Storms. I thought it was great and can’t wait to finish the story with Kingdom of Ash soon.

Sky Without Stars Gets Five From Me

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Sky Without Stars cover

When’s the next book coming out? You can’t just end it like this! That was my first reaction when finishing Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell, a story about three people living on the planet Laterre based on Les Miserables. It was an amazing book and I have to read the next one. I was fortunate enough to get a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sky Without Stars follows three characters with vastly different lives: Chatine, the girl who disguises herself as a boy and steals whatever she can to survive; Marcellus, a high ranking military officer who always feels like he has to prove something to his grandfather; and Alouette, who has been living in a library for most of her life. Their lives begin to intersect on the eve of what looks like a revolution.

As the book unfolds, we discover the truth about what’s really going on in this country. Each of our main characters has their eyes opened to what is going on, and they will have to make decisions to either be selfish, or act for the greater good of society, which might not be in their best interests. Unfortunately, the problems don’t get resolved in this book, so we have to wait for the next one. Is the next book out yet?

My favorite characters in this book are Marcellus and Chatine. I like Alouette as well, but I’m more attached to the other two. All three of them have facets that I like, but I hope I get to see Marcellus and Chatine together in the next book. We’ll see. There really isn’t a love triangle in Sky Without Stars, but I do expect to see one in the next book.

One of the things in this book that I thought was pretty cool was the French influence of it. A lot of the words were french-ified, which didn’t make it difficult to read, but gave it a different vibe. There are some French words smattered among the text; even though I speak some French, I didn’t understand every word at its first use, but that’s okay. Sky Without Stars makes it clear what the terms mean when it uses them. The royal family is a lot like King Louie and Marie Antoinette, and there is even a contraption that is similar to a guillotine. Of course, there’s also the threat of revolution in the air.

I highly recommend this book! The only think I don’t like, I think, is that I have to wait to read the next one.  The book doesn’t come out until March 26th, but you can pre-order it today.

Twisted Roots

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Twisted Roots cover

I recently read Twisted Roots by Shelly Goodman Wright. For full discosure, I know the author and was given a copy of this book.

Jessica is living a nightmare. Her mother is evil and wants her to marry this creep, and her father is in a coma. In order to keep her mother from ending her father’s life, Jessica feels that she has to do everything that her mother wants her to. When her father dies, she figures that she’s had enough and decides to escape. After she leaves, she finds a group of people in the Okefenokee swamp that treat her more like family than her own family.

The book was interesting enough. The characters are likeable, and I thought the family-type dynamic was pretty cool. The villains can be pretty creepy and I definitely hate some of them.

This is Christian fiction, so there is a good vs. evil storyline in here, and it’s also a clean book, so you don’t have to worry about a curse word or sex scene that you’re not interested in seeing. Since it is Christian fiction, there may be elements that bother people if it’s not their thing. Jessica meets a guy that she’s interested in, and their relationship develops slowly, with a few bumps in the road to make it interesting.

While I liked the story overall, it’s not without it’s problem areas. The book could have used another run-through by an editor. I found quite a few mistakes while reading the book (granted, I find mistakes in lots of books, but it’s usually one or two per book). There were also some places where I was unclear how a few of the characters found out some of the things that they did.

It wasn’t my favorite story, but it was a pretty good read nevertheless. I would consider reading the next book in the series, but I’m not going to rush out and put it at the top of my TBR.

The Waking Forest

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
The Waking Forest Cover

I recently had the opportunity to read The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees (thank you Netgalley). I love that cover! So spooky. I have mixed feelings about the book though.

The Waking Forest is divided into two parts. In part one, the chapters alternate between the story of the Witch of Wishes, who lives in an enchanted forest and grants wishes to visiting children, and a family of homeschoolers who are a little strange (the main character, Rhea, has visions). As the story progresses, you eventually find out what these two storylines have in common. Part two builds on the first part, and I don’t wish to give spoilers.

This book does have a lot of good things going for it. Ms. Wees has a very descriptive style, somewhat like Laini Taylor. Although some of her descriptions are beautiful or clever, I wouldn’t exactly describe her words as beautiful prose like I do with Taylor. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the descriptions, which help the story come to life.

I really enjoyed the first part of the book, where we read about the Witch of Wishes in the forest, who befriends a boy who visits her disguised as a fox, and the family who lives next to the beach and have names that all start with R. It was fun to see the similarities in the stories and try to figure out how they were related. This part of the book would have gotten a solid four stars from me.

After we find out how these two storylines converge, part 2 was… just okay to me. While the descriptive prose remains, the action was a little muddy and I didn’t find it to be all that interesting. Sometimes things were a little confusing.

The other part that I found to be a little confusing was all the names in the family whose names started with R. It was hard to keep track of all of them, and they don’t have a small family. Amazon says this book is only 298 pages. With such a small space devoted to the family, it was really hard to get to know what all of their personalities were like. Fewer family members or more pages devoted to getting to know them would have probably helped with that.

Overall, I thought this story was okay.  I’d consider reading future books by this author, but The Waking Forest isn’t one of the best books I’ve read this month.

Favorite of February

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Fangirling on Friday

Today is Friday again, so you know what I’m going to do… fangirl! Today we’re going to talk about my favorite book I read in February. Fangirling on Friday is hosted by Books in the Skye!

Four Dead Queens cover

And my favorite book from last month was… Four Dead Queens! I saved the best for last in February, considering this book didn’t come out until the 26th and I technically didn’t finish it until 2:30 AM on March 1st. But I hadn’t gone to bed yet, so I still consider it to be part of February.

Anyway, I read eight books in February, and while a few of them were very good, there were three that were just “meh”. So overall, it wasn’t a great month, but Four Dead Queens was definitely one of the highlights.

I had been hearing about this book since last May, and that’s a lot of early buzz for a debut author. I was a little bit nervous to start it, but I was not disappointed.

The book takes place in Quadara, which is a unique world where the inhabitants live in different quadrants and have different traits (a little like Divergent). While I first thought all the different queens and quadrants would be confusing, it really wasn’t.

The ending had something of an Enchantée vibe to it, where I knew the character had to get out of the mess somehow but the pages were ticking down and… how was this going to end?

Anyway, this isn’t my review to it, I just want to say how much I loved it, and I’m glad that it lived up to it’s hype!

Next week, for Dr. Seuss week, we’re talking about children’s books! I think.

Furyborn

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Furyborn cover

When I first heard of Furyborn last spring, it sounded interesting. Two queens fulfilling a prophecy over thousands of years? Sign me up! Then I started to hear mixed reviews and I decided to hold off on it.

My review will be slightly mixed as well.

The first queen, Rielle, seems like a very nice girl. Her family has kept her sheltered because she has magical powers that she has trouble controlling. As a child, her powers got out of control – with deadly results. When she sneaks out of the house and ends up using her powers to save the prince, the whole kingdom makes her go through trials to prove that she’s the prophesied (and eagerly anticipated) Sun Queen. You root for her, but you know from the prologue that she’s actually the Blood Queen – the other prophesied queen that people have dreaded.

The other queen, Eliana, is not even in the nobility in this book. Eliana is an assassin with a strange power: she can’t be damaged. As a reader, you know that she has to be the prophesied Sun Queen, but how? While Rielle seems to be so nice, Eliana is not really.

My thoughts on this book are mixed, probably because it took me a while to warm up to this book. The book switches POVs between the two girls, and for several chapters, just when I start to care about one girl, the POV switches and… I don’t care as much? I’m not sure if it’s because I listened to this in audiobook format and I was a little confused about what was going on or if it just wasn’t amazingly exciting, but it took me a while to get the two girls’ stories straight and become excited about what was going on.

Nevertheless, as the story progressed and I got to know the two girls, I became intrigued. How did sweet Rielle become the monster that the people in the second timeline know her as? How did Eliana the assassin become the Sun Queen? Alas, you won’t find out in this book.

Despite the fact that it took me a while to warm up to Furyborn, I do want to find out what happens next. I won’t rush out to pre-order the next book in the series, and I’ll probably get it from the library, but I do plan on reading it. This book may not be one of the best books I read last year, but it was nevertheless enjoyable.