Young Adult Archives - Page 5 of 15 - Brooke's Reviews and Sweeps

Ghosts of the Shadow Market

By Brookelorren on June 6, 2019June 6, 20192 Comments

Cassandra Clare’s Ghosts of the Shadow Market came out on Tuesday, and I was so excited to read it! While I know a lot of the novellas came out earlier, I didn’t buy them and decided to wait until this week to read them. I loved this book, and am now excited to try to find time to reread some of these books!

This book assumes you are familiar with The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, and The Dark Artifices. My review may contain spoilers for these books.

Ghosts of the Shadow Market contains ten short stories (some of which are novella length). Jem/Brother Zechariah is a constant presence in these. They should probably be read in order (at least for the first read-through). There is a common thread running through these stories: Jem is looking for the Lost Heir. The stories take place between 1901 (with the children of The Infernal Devices characters) and 2013 (which occurs after The Dark Artifices).

What I Loved

The Characters. Because this book takes place over a long period of time, there are a ton of characters in this book. Some you’ll be familiar with, but there are others that will appear in The Last Hours trilogy. I never realized that Lily (the head of the New York vampires) was so smitten with James Carstairs! It was fun to see little Jace and the little Lightwoods years before The Mortal Instruments, along with the other characters.

The Worldbuilding. This is one of the things that I love about Cassandra Clare’s books. The world and lore is so intertwined and full.

The Historical Background. I’m a student of history, so I’m familiar with The Great Depression, World War II, etc. The book was well-researched, and I even learned something. When London was bombed, the shops tried to stay open. Some of them that had been bombed were still open, hanging out signs saying they were “more open than usual.” I thought that was funny (I checked, and they actually did have these signs out).

The Humor. I laughed out loud in several places in this book. “Isabelle is the love of my life, but her seven-layer dip is like the nine circles of Hell,” Lily’s constant nicknames for Jem, and several other places in the book were quite funny.

The Story. In Ghosts of the Shadow Market, you get to find out things that happened after Queen of Air and Darkness, and how Alec and Magnus ended up adopting Rafael. While it won’t be necessary to read this book to enjoy The Last Hours or The Wicked Powers, this book enriches the Shadowhunter universe.

What Could Be Better

Because The Last Hours won’t be released until next March, it took me a while to figure out who was whose kid (and don’t quiz me even now, I’m still a little fuzzy on these). I still enjoyed the stories that took place in 1901, but I think I will like them better once I’m more familiar with these characters and who is who.

One of the stories takes place in 1989 and one of the characters refers to Cindy Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”. The song came out in 1983 and was mostly popular in that year and 1984. I really couldn’t imagine someone referring to the song in 1989 unless they were hopelessly behind the times. Which perhaps the character is.

Conclusion

If you enjoyed The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, and The Dark Artifices, I recommend this book. If you haven’t read all twelve of those books yet, I recommend you read those first. Ghosts of the Shadow Market adds to the Shadowhunter world and advances the story. It’s made me more excited for Chain of Gold, which is coming out next March!

Fantasy Books (Top Ten Tuesday)

By Brookelorren on June 4, 2019June 3, 201948 Comments

Hello! Time for another Top Ten Tuesday topic (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl)! Today we’re talking about books from our favorite genre. I like all sorts of books, but I tend to read a lot of fantasy books, so we’re going to go with that (although dystopian might be making a comeback soon, so there’s that). This week, I’m picking five fantasy books (or series) that I love, and five that I’m looking forward to reading.

An Ember in the Ashes Quartet – Sabaa Tahir

I’m looking forward to reading the final book in this series next year, but for now, this series belongs up here. I read these three (long) books in three days. They were difficult to put down! I originally got the first two books from the library, but then I had to own the set (even though they don’t match, because one’s Kindle, one’s paperback, and one’s hardback).

Shadowhunter’s Books – Cassandra Clare

I love these books! I guess this would belong in the upcoming release books too, because we have Chain of Gold to look forward to next March, but these definitely belong on this list. I’m also getting Ghosts of the Shadow Market today, which I’m excited for. They’re shipping via UPS (which typically arrives later at my house than the post office) so I guess I’ll be reading something else until it arrives.

The Young Elites Trilogy – Marie Lu

Of course this one had to make my list. I adore Magiano and Adelina! Even though Adelina is evil. I really need to finish the fanfic I started writing telling this series from Magiano’s POV (which will continue on and will have a happier ending). This is my first week as a full-time writer/homeschooler, so I should have more time to work on it now!

Flame in the Mist Duology – Renée Ahdieh

I was originally going to put the Grisha Verse books in here, but then I realized “didn’t I talk about all these books last week?” so I decided to throw in something new instead. This might be the first fantasy book I read based in a medieval Japan like place, and I loved it! I couldn’t stop thinking about it while I was at work.

I wasn’t sure about reading Ms. Ahdieh’s new book about vampires, but I got the chance to read the beginning of The Beautiful the other day, and it was really good, so I’ll probably read that one too.

The Cruel Prince Trilogy – Holly Black

This book had me hooked from the first page! I love Holly Black’s writing. I can’t wait until The Queen of Nothing comes out later this year! Yes, I know Jude and Cardan don’t really have the model relationship, but they’re not exactly model citizens themselves. I couldn’t put down the first two books in this series and think I finished them the day they came out.

New Books I’m Looking Forward To!

I’m really looking forward to Wicked Fox by Kat Cho! I got to read the first part of the book through Bookish First, and I won an ARC through them! I haven’t received it yet, but I’m going to my mailbox with expectation every day (although I have some other books I need to read first). I actually won three books (two through them, one through Goodreads) so this isn’t the only bookmail I’m anxiously awaiting.

October 1st is going to be a huge release day for me, because not only is Rebel coming out that day, but so is The End and Other Beginnings (Veronica Roth) and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo! The cover features Matthew the famous Book Snake (who also appears on the cover of Queen of Nothing, another book I’m getting)!

Speaking of The End and Other Beginnings, here it is! It is a collection of short stories, including two stories from the Carve the Mark universe and “Inertia”, a story I adored from Summer Days and Summer Nights! I don’t own that book so I’ll be happy to read that story again.

Oh, and I just read in Entertainment Weekly while writing this article that “Inertia” is going to be turned into a movie! If you read this blog a lot, you know I don’t watch a lot of movies, but I definitely want to go see this one!

I really liked Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett (my review will be up in a couple of weeks) and when I found out that she’s coming out with a fantasy novel where a girl has to hunt down Vlad the Impaler’s cursed ring, I thought “sign me up!” Netgalley was nice enough to approve me to read The Lady Rogue, although it’s in protected PDF format and I’m having trouble downloading it, but I’m sure I’ll get that figured out before it comes out in September.

I’m excited for The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White to come out this November! Camelot is such an interesting legend (I happened to get Once and Future on sale on Sunday) and this sounds like a great book. I’ve still only read one short story by Kiersten White (despite owning more than one of her books) but I hope to remedy that soon.

So there’s ten books from the fantasy genre – 5 I love, and 5 I’m looking forward to reading! What books are you looking forward to reading? I can’t wait to see what you all came up with today.

Shadow of the Fox

By Brookelorren on May 29, 2019May 30, 20193 Comments

There are some authors that I consistently see, week after week, and always think “I have to read something by that author” whenever I see their name mentioned. Julie Kagawa was one of those authors. So when Netgalley offered the Soul of the Sword ARC, I had to apply for it. Then I realized it was the second book in the Shadow of the Fox trilogy. Luckily for me, I just happened to have seen the book on sale earlier this month and I picked it up (sadly, it’s not on sale as I write this). I loved this book and am enjoying the second book in the series at the moment.

Yumeko is half-kitsune (kitsune are magical fox-creatures in Japanese folklore). She grew up in a temple, and is quite naïve to how the world works. Still, she has a pure heart. Suddenly, her life is thrust into chaos, when the temple is attacked and she is tasked with guarding a scroll. Should she fail, the world could descend into darkness. At the same time, she runs into Kage Tatsumi, a boy who has been tasked with finding the scroll. They end up traveling together to try to find the Steel Feather Temple. If Tatsumi finds out that Yumeko is kitsune or has the scroll, it could be curtains for her.

What I Loved

This was a really cute adventure story. Yumeko is such a sweet, innocent character who always seems to see the best in people. As she travels with Tatsumi, they are attacked by someone who wants to stop them from getting the scroll. Still, her kind, optimistic nature attracts other characters that join her, vowing to protect her (despite the fact that Tatsumi would rather be traveling by himself in the first place). Tatsumi and Yumeko start to develop feelings for each other in this book, but don’t expect any kisses any time soon.

The setting to Shadow of the Fox is gorgeous. It is full of Japanese mythological creatures, and I kept highlighting words for me to add to my book journal later on. The world itself has a vibrant history of its own. Since I’m reading the second book at the moment, I’m seeing more of the world, and I absolutely adore it.

There are also complex villains and relationships in this book. In the very beginning, we are introduced to Suki, a young maid who is killed by her mistress. How does this all fit in? You actually don’t really begin to see much of how she fits into the whole story in this book, but there is more in Soul of the Sword. Who is attacking Yumeko and Tatsumi? I’m just beginning to see the bigger picture in the second book, but there’s a lot here.

Conclusion

Should you read Shadow of the Fox? Yes, if you enjoy Japanese inspired fantasy and fun, sweet characters. I’m definitely a fan of the series, plan to read the third book at some point after it becomes available, and am likely to read more Julie Kagawa books in the future.

Crooked Kingdom

By Brookelorren on May 27, 2019May 27, 2019Leave a Comment

After finishing Six of Crows, I immediately wanted to read Leigh Bardugo’s sequel, Crooked Kingdom. The first book of the duology ended in a cliffhanger and I didn’t want to go for too long without finding out the ending. Fortunately, I already had a copy. I was not disappointed in how this duology turned out, and I definitely plan on reading the next Grisha Verse book, King of Scars, in the future (I’ve already pre-ordered her first adult book, Ninth House, which comes out October 1st).

Because Crooked Kingdom is the second book in a duology, expect spoilers in this review.

Inej has been taken and all the plans that Kaz and his crew had to become wealthy beyond imagination… went up in smoke. Not only does Kaz want to get Inej back… he also wants to find a way to enact revenge upon Jan Van Eck. Maybe he’ll be able to find a way to get wealthy in the process.

What Makes This Book Amazing

I thought this book was great and I can’t really think of anything I didn’t like about it (okay, I wasn’t a fan of the prologue). However, there are a lot of things I can say that I loved.

Setting: the setting in this universe = author goals. I just love how this universe has a rich setting. Every location in this world has a unique culture, climate, foods, and history. Ms. Bardugo brings it to life in a magnificent way.

Characters: over the course of Crooked Kingdom, we’re able to learn more about these characters and what makes them tick. They all have demons that come from events in their pasts, and we get to learn more about them. We learn more about their families. This was as well done as the setting.

Incorporation of the previous Grisha Verse books: even though this book is set in a different part of the world, I love how the previous Grisha Verse books were incorporated into this one. Crooked Kingdom even incorporates some of the old characters; as readers, we have inside knowledge that the characters initially don’t have.

The plot and ending: I love how these characters solve the problems at hand and bounce back from their setbacks. I also love how the characters (mostly) get their happily ever after. Now I want to read more from them!

Conclusion

I highly recommend this book, and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be reading most of Leigh Bardugo’s books in the future. I do recommend reading this book after reading the original Grisha Verse books and Six of Crows. You’ll definitely get more out of this series if you read them in this order. If you start with Six of Crows, it’ll still be good, but the worldbuilding will be more awesome if you start with the original books.

Six of Crows

By Brookelorren on May 25, 2019May 17, 20192 Comments

Last year, after I started really getting into this book blog, it seemed like everybody was talking about the Six of Crows duology. I was even in the bookstore and almost got it. But I waited until I read the Grisha Verse Trilogy first. It was worth the wait, because both series are amazing, but they both are part of the same world. I listened to this on audiobook.

Ketterdam is a dangerous place to be. There are slavers that will capture Grisha (and other people) around here. Money is their god and the wealthy have all the power. It’s into this world that we are introduced to Kaz Brekker and his group of gangster friends.

A new drug has been discovered: jurda parem. This drug can make grisha do amazing things, but it is highly addictive and will shorten the grisha’s lifespan. Kaz has been given the opportunity to earn an incredible amount of money if he can just do the impossible: capture it’s creator, Bul Yul-Bayur, from the impenetrable Ice Court. It’s a dangerous job, but if anybody is going to do it, Kaz and his crew can.

What I Loved

Worldbuilding: I loved everything about this book, but one of the things I loved about this book was the amazing worldbuilding. It’s obvious that many of the cultures in this world were inspired by real cultures, but as the characters travel though the world, you can sense that all these little details were well thought out. The characters have favorite foods, the lands have different climates, and even the different people groups have different senses of morality. I also love how this world builds on the Grisha Verse universe. There is the occasional mention of the Ravkan civil war (from the original trilogy) or even Sankta Alina.

The characters in Six of Crows are amazing and well thought out as well. They each have their own histories and motivations, but we don’t get to learn about it right away. Their pasts bring demons into their present, which causes them to act the way they do.

I kept wanting to read more of this book. The plot was fast-paced, and not everything went exactly according to plan (which happens in so much of life). I kept wanting to root for these characters, and the cliffhanger at the end made me want to read the next book (which I did).

Conclusion

You definitely want to read Six of Crows if you like fantasy books with great worldbuilding and amazing characters. While you can read this book without reading the Grisha Verse books too, I recommend that you do, because it just adds depth and meaning to this story. I highly recommend you add this to your TBR.

Sky in the Deep

By Brookelorren on May 23, 2019May 15, 20194 Comments

Sky in the Deep is a book about a young Viking warrior by Adrienne Young. It was an interesting read that kept me wanting to find out what happened next.

Eelyn is a warrior for her tribe. It’s just her and her father now; her brother died five years ago, and her mother died long before that. After getting captured during a battle, her life is upended. Unfortunately, it would give away major spoilers to say what distracted her and caused her to get captured.

Eelyn is forced to live with her enemies and serve them as a slave. Her only goal in life is to escape and run back to her father and her own tribe, but with winter approaching, that’s not possible. The tribe she’s forced to serve has been her tribe’s enemy for as long as can be remembered, and they serve a different god.

Over the course of the story, she begins to realize that her enemy tribe is not much different than the people she grew up with. And she falls in love. Eventually, an even bigger threat than her enemy tribe shows up and… her tribe has to work with her enemy tribe to neutralize the threat.

I enjoyed this story. While Sky in the Deep started off a little slow for me, it picked up fairly quickly. The characters, her relationship with the family she has to live with, and the plot where her tribe of birth is forced to join with the enemy tribe to vanquish the outside threat was all enjoyable. The book is light in the romance department, but the love story seemed realistic.

If you’re looking for a Viking story with some violence, an enemies to lovers romance, and a story with family (both found and what you’re born with) you might enjoy Sky in the Deep.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

By Brookelorren on May 16, 2019May 13, 2019Leave a Comment

After hearing about this book for quite a while, I finally read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I didn’t know what to expect at first (I just knew that I liked the Throne of Glass series and this was her other series) but I found that I liked it. And I realized that this story was something of a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I enjoyed it and I plan on reading the next books in the series at some point.

Feyre is a girl living in the forest, keeping her family from starving. She was a better girl than me, because when her sisters ask for money for things, she gives them more than they deserve. If it were me out there hunting all day, and my ungrateful sisters were asking for money, I’d give them just what they needed, and then I’d tell them to go do something to earn it if they wanted anything more. Even her father is practically useless, although I at least feel bad for him since he had an injury.

One day, while hunting in the woods, she kills a wolf. It’s a ginormous wolf, and she thinks it might be magical, but in her mind, it might be either her or him. This sets off a chain of events that forces her to live in a magical estate over in fae-land. Now she worries for her family (whom she’s afraid might have died without her) but she does have a pretty sweet life otherwise. As a reader, I’m wondering “why?” but it’s explained later in the book.

Despite her rags to riches story, all is not well in the land of the fae. There is a curse that threatens to spill over into the human lands and hurt her family. Feyre must do what she can to save her family… and the fae male that she has grown to… love? You’ll have to read the book to find out more.

What I Liked

A Court of Thorns and Roses has a lot going for it. There’s magic, and I couldn’t help but root for the girl who had been slaving away for her family for so long and finally gets to live a good life. Feyre is a brave and clever girl who is willing to fight for what she wants. The writing was good, as all Sarah J. Maas books are.

What I Found to be ‘Meh’

I can’t say I disliked anything about this books, but there were things I liked less. Although Feyre was clever, strong-willed, and brave, there were some times when she would be extremely unwise. Yes, I can see how she would miss her family and worry about them, but she does some things that are incredibly unwise at the beginning, and part of me wanted to strangle her. Maybe I just couldn’t understand how someone with such a useless family would be so attached to them. She doesn’t listen to counsel at times, even when she should know better.

Conclusion

I definitely plan on reading more books in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I decided to get A Court of Mist and Fury on audiobook; the next books in this series are a little longer and I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to find time to read the next books in the series otherwise. While SJM might not be an author that I often feel like I have to read the next book now about, I do enjoy her stories and I want to find out what happens next.

Storm and Fury

By Brookelorren on May 13, 2019May 13, 20192 Comments

I’ve been interested in reading something by Jennifer L. Armentrout for quite a while, and I was fortunate enough to be approved for an ARC of Storm and Fury (thank you Netgalley). I later found out that it’s in a world that is already pre-established, but it’s readable anyway. This is the first book in The Harbinger series, and I really enjoyed it.

Trinity is special. How special? She has her own guardian assigned to her. She lives on a compound in modern-day West Virginia with gargoyles known as Wardens. She’s not exactly human, even though most of the wardens she lives with thinks she is. Even though she’s special, she feels like an outsider a lot of the time. While everyone around her is free to live their lives and find love, Trinity lives with people that aren’t really allowed to fraternize with her.

Except one day, she meets Zayne. He’s gorgeous, and even though he’s a warden too, there’s something different about him. Zayne arrives at her compound with a group visiting from Washington, D.C. After Trinity’s compound is attacked, she has to work with him to make things right. Will sparks end up flying? You’ll just have to read the book!

There was a lot to enjoy about this book. For one thing, I love the main character, Trinity. She’s this badass warrior, but she’s unsure of herself. She second guesses herself around Zayne. She’s nosy. And she has an eye condition that causes her to trip over things a lot (Ms. Armentrout stated in the acknowledgements that she has this eye condition). I couldn’t help but like her and want good things for her.

In this world, like the real world, things aren’t always black and white. Not everybody is 100% good, and not everybody is 100% bad. I liked that.

While reading this book, there were always questions that needed to be answered. Who was Trinity’s father? Who are behind the attacks? Plus, there’s a big twist at the end which I wasn’t expecting.

If you’ve read The Dark Elements series (which I haven’t) then you’ll probably know some of the backstory which eventually Trinity learns, and you’ll see some familiar characters. Since I haven’t read this series yet, it was all new to me.

Overall, I loved this series and plan on reading more books by this author. Obsidian is on my summer TBR, and when the second book in this series comes out, I plan to read it as well.

Royalty (Fangirling on Friday)

By Brookelorren on May 10, 2019May 8, 20194 Comments

It’s Friday again! That means (looks at watch) I only have three more weeks until I get to work from home and do this writing/blogging/homeschooling thing full time! Woo! I’m excited for that, but for now, we have Fangirling on Friday, hosted by Books in the Skye! Today we’re talking about royalty.

One of my favorite series involving royalty at the moment happens to be The Cruel Prince. They’re not exactly the poster child for great royal families, but if you’ve read history (and I tend to like history a lot) then you probably see that royalty in real life isn’t a whole lot like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Except for the bad things that happen to them. So having a messed up royal house maybe is a prerequisite for being royalty? I absolutely love Jude and Cardan, and am looking forward to The Queen of Nothing. They postponed Chain of Gold until next March, but they moved up the final Folk of the Air book to (I think) the same week that Chain of Gold originally was supposed to come out, so at least I get to read this one this year at least!

Of course, what would a post on royalty be without talk about queens? I absolutely loved Four Dead Queens. Quadara is a unique country that has not one, but four queens… and no king.

But something is going on and someone is offing the queens. Dun dun DUN! Why? Will they catch the killer? This story was quite unique and I didn’t really guess the twist to this book. I’d love to see more books by this author.

I don’t mention Heartless by Marissa Meyer all that often, but it was one of the first books I reviewed on this blog. This is the story of The Queen of Hearts before she becomes the queen in wonderland. You just have to feel sorry for her, because all she wants to do is bake, and her parents expect her to marry the king instead. And she falls in love with someone as well (that isn’t the king).

So there you go: three books about royalty that I really liked. What are some books revolving around royalty that you like? Mother’s Day is coming up (in the US, at least) and we’ll be talking about favorite mothers next week. Eep! A lot of my favorite characters have lost their mothers! Forget favorites… maybe I’ll just write about characters whose mothers aren’t dead or evil! If I can find a few of them.

The Tiger at Midnight

By Brookelorren on May 2, 2019April 29, 20192 Comments

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala was one of my most anticipated books of the season. It looked like exactly the kind of book that I’d give five stars to. Amazon says it’s “perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Renée Ahdieh.” Check. Ms. Teerdhala said that Legend was one of its comp titles. Double check. Perhaps this book was a little overhyped in my mind, because while it was good, it ended up only being a four-star book in my mind.

The land has a magical illness. The lands of Jansa and Dharka have historically been ruled by two different people with magical bloodlines, who periodically have to perform some sort of ritual to keep the land fertile and lush. The balance of power has been upset in recent years, and famine is starting to spread over the land. Esha, also known as the Viper, is part of a rebel group that is attempting to restore that balance. Kunal, the nephew of the general, has been trained as a child to uphold the government in power.

When the general is killed, Kunal has to find the Viper. He ends up finding something that could be even more deadly: the truth.

What I Liked

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. The setting was great. It had this whole medieval Indian vibe that was unique and interesting. The book had political intrigue. You’re not quite sure who is good and who is bad, and I was surprised at the end. The cat and mouse game that Esha and Kunal played, where Kunal would catch Esha and then she’d escape, was fun.

What Was Just… Okay

There are some books that just drag you in at the start with their beautiful writing. This may be why The Tiger at Midnight did not quite get the five stars I thought it would get: it lacked the magical quality I was hoping it would have. While it had so many other things going for it, it was lacking right here.

The only other thing that I could have been better was the realism in Esha and Kunal’s relationship. Kunal chases her over the countryside, catches her, and then she escapes. She leaves him a note, and they seem to have an attraction to each other. It’s cute, but not realistic? Especially as this scenario happens more than once. Then, after it’s obvious they are both attracted to each other, they get to one point in the book where they could spend more time with each other but don’t?

Conclusion

I definitely plan on reading the other books in The Tiger at Midnight trilogy when they come out. This is Swati Teerdhala’s debut, and I’ve seen other authors blossom when their sophomore and beyond books come out. The story itself is good, and I do want to find out what happens next. Probably the biggest thing that this book suffered from was how amazing the books this one was compared to were, and how difficult it would have been to live up to them.