Books Archives - Page 25 of 50 - Brooke's Reviews and Sweeps

Killing Kennedy

By Brookelorren on June 27, 2019June 6, 20192 Comments

Recently, I’ve started to put more audiobooks into my life. I haven’t been reading as many non-fiction books as I would like, so I decided to read Bill O’Reilly’s Killing Kennedy as an audiobook. It was really good and I learned a lot.

If you’re not familiar with O’Reilly’s Killing series, he takes a topic and writes all about the events that lead to the person’s death. The books are written in a narrative style, so they’re fairly entertaining. In the past, I’ve read Killing Lincoln, Killing Reagan, and Killing the Rising Sun.

Killing Kennedy starts off during World War II, where Kennedy is first tested as a leader. After his boat sinks, he saves the people on his crew through quick thinking, a lot of swimming, and a little bit of luck. If it wasn’t for this incident (and the death of his older brother), we might not have ever heard much from the Kennedys.

Most of the book focuses on the time when Kennedy was president. O’Reilly discusses some of the major events of his time in office, such as the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile crisis. The book also discusses Kennedy’s personal life, including his dalliances outside of his marriage to Jackie, the loss of his child Patrick, and his love for his children. It also covers some of the major social movements of the time, such as the civil rights movement.

Of course, since this is a Killing book, Kennedy has to die sometime. We’re introduced to the character of Lee Harvey Oswald long before he makes his fateful shots. Killing Kennedy follows Oswald from his days in the Soviet Union, where he meets his wife Marina, all the way through his death at the hands of Jack Ruby.

Although there are conspiracy theories surrounding Kennedy’s death, O’Reilly makes no judgement about them one way or another. Just as he does in Killing Lincoln, O’Reilly states the facts and lets you come to your own conclusions. He goes into a lot of detail about what happened that morning, including Jackie’s reaction and what some people noticed prior to the shooting.

If you’ve ever wondered about Kennedy’s time in office or about his assassination, Killing Kennedy is a great book. I highly recommend it and will be reading more books in the Killing series in the future.

Books on My Summer 2019 TBR

By Brookelorren on June 25, 2019June 10, 201937 Comments

It’s that time of year again! Time to make up a new TBR for the new season. This is for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

Before we get started, I’d like to review the books I read from my Spring 2019 TBR:

Kingdom of Ash – Sarah J. Maas: Read
Ruin and Rising – Leigh Bardugo: Read
Priory of the Orange Tree – Samantha Shannon: Read
The Bear and the Nightingale – Katherine Arden: Read
Sky in the Deep – Adrienne Young – Read
King of Fools – Amanda Foody – Read
Spin the Dawn – Elizabeth Lim – Read
The Tiger at Midnight – Swati Teerdhala – Read
Ghosts of the Shadow Market – Cassandra Clare et al. – Read
The Poppy War – R.F. Kuang – Read

10/10! Yay! One of the reasons why I like making these seasonal TBRs is that I can see all the books I really want to read actually get read.

For this season’s TBR, I decided to do something different. There are no new releases that I just have to read right now coming out in the next three months (as opposed to my fall TBR which will have a ton of books I pre-ordered). So I decided to go through my books and find the ones I have been saying I’ve wanted to read for a while. Then I added books by authors I really wanted to read but didn’t own.

I came up with 25 books.

So I let fate decide the rest. I assigned each book a number and chose ten numbers from a random number generator. So these are the books I’m going to read this season:

Allegedly – Every time I see this book I want to read it. A girl is blamed for the death of a baby when she’s nine. She suffers while growing up, and as an adult she has to confront her past.

Ash Princess – I got this book on sale over Black Friday weekend last year. It’s one of those books I had been thinking about reading for a while, but never got around to it. Looking forward to reading this fantasy novel by Laura Sebastian.

Rora – I’ve probably wanted to read this book for about a decade now? A long time. I bought the book last year (I think it’s out of print, so I got it from a third party seller) and am looking forward to it. It’s a true story about Christians that were persecuted (by other “Christians”) a long time ago. I first read about this group of people in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

Obsidian – I’ve been saying for a while that I need to read the Lux series. This is a book I don’t own, but I shouldn’t have trouble finding it at the library.

Truthwitch – I got this book when it was on sale. I love reading Susan Dennard’s posts on Twitter and people seem to like her books, so I’m giving it a try. A lot of the books on my list this week, like this one, are books that I’ve purchased in the past, but haven’t gotten around to reading yet. I have the first three books in this series (all purchased on sale) so I hope I like them!

The Thousandth Floor – Another book that I got on sale that looked interesting. A story that takes place in New York City 100 years from now.

Isle of Blood and Stone – Another book I got on sale. Every time I hear about it I think “I really need to read that book.” Well, I’m reading the book this summer.

And I Darken – Another book I got on sale, another author that I always say “I really need to read something by her” about (although I have read one of her short stories), and another book I always want to read whenever I think about it. This summer.

Naughts and Crosses – This book was a Goodreads recommendation based on the fact that I liked Marie Lu’s The Midnight Star. It’s not a book I hear a lot about, but it looked interesting. I don’t own this one, so I’ll have to get it from the library.

Dive Smack – This one looked interesting when I first read reviews for it last summer, but I never got around to reading it. It was on sale a couple of months ago, so I picked it up. Originally, the random number generator picked up A Court of Mist and Fury, but I ended up listening to that on audiobook, so this is a late addition to my summer TBR.

So these are the ten books that won the TBR lottery and are at the top of my summer TBR. Of course, I read more than 10 books in a three month period and will probably read more than these, but these are the books that I’ll be making a priority for in the upcoming months.

Next week we’re going to talk about books I enjoyed as a kid.

The Storm Crow

By Brookelorren on June 24, 2019June 21, 2019Leave a Comment

I recently had the opportunity to read The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson (thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire). I enjoyed it a lot, and plan on reading the sequel sometime after that one comes out.

Things are going badly for Thia, the princess of Rhodaire. One day, she’s a mischievous teen about to become a crow rider; the next day, all her dreams fall apart. Worse yet, her sister expects her to marry Prince Ericen from the enemy’s kingdom! All Thia wants to do right now is lay in bed all day. The situation looks hopeless, but if that was the case, this wouldn’t be a very good story.

What I Liked

Thia becomes depressed in this story. She doesn’t have chronic suicidality (I know someone with this problem), but she has a situational depression that can occur after a traumatic event. After our house fire years ago, I felt pretty upset and anxious, although not to the point where I was in bed all day. Still, I can see where she was coming from. I liked how Thia was able to rise above her depression and become the heroine that her kingdom needed her to be.

I like how things aren’t always as they seem to be. The characters that are portrayed as bad guys might not actually be that bad. In addition, there was a revelation that happened towards the end of The Storm Crow that surprised me. I won’t say what it is because… spoilers.

The Storm Crow also had some pretty good friend rep. Thia has a best friend, Kiva, who gets to stay with her, even when Thia is forced to travel into the enemy’s kingdom. Yes, Kiva does work as Thia’s guard, so she’s kind of a subordinate, but they both have a friendship kind of respect for each other, and Kiva isn’t afraid to kick her friend in the butt every now and then shen she needs it.

What Was Not Quite As Good

Although I really liked the story, it did kinda get off to a slow start. The really exciting parts happened towards the end of the book. The last part of the book flew by for me, while I wasn’t as excited about the book during the first part of the story.

Conclusion

I enjoyed The Storm Crow enough that I plan on reading the sequel at some point whenever it comes out. Although the book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, there are several unanswered questions that I’d like to know the answer to. I don’t know when it’ll come out, but I added it to my TBR.

This book doesn’t come out until July 9th, but you can pre-order it now.

The Birthday Book Tag

By Brookelorren on June 22, 2019June 20, 20198 Comments

Happy birthday to me! Today’s my birthday, so I’m going to do the birthday book tag. I found it over at Bookish Treats, but it was started by Antonia at Always Books.

1. BIRTHDAY CAKE – a book with a plot that seems cliche but you adore it anyway

I’m not sure that this one qualifies? But I had a hard time with this prompt. What is a cliche plot? I looked through the books I read recently and wasn’t sure what books might work.

But I figured that the bones of this story have been around for over a thousand years, so we pretty much know what’s going to happen. Yet we want to read the story anyway. And I ended up loving it. I still haven’t gotten around to reading the sequel, but I probably will at some point.

2. PARTY GUESTS – your most anticipated book release this year

Day, June, and Eden are definitely invited to my birthday party this year. Is that really a surprise? I wish Rebel would come out earlier, but alas, I’ll have to wait until October 1st.

I did get to read the sampler though, and I loved it (of course). So Eden is a bit of a rebel in this book, but after reading the sampler, there’s a good reason for that. I wonder how this will mesh with Life After Legend II, which came out as a pre-order gift with Wildcard? The timelines seem to overlap.

3. BIRTHDAY PRESENTS – a book that surprised you with how much you loved it

Into the Hollow by Lynn Vroman was one of those “Read Now” books on Netgalley. Like Forrest Gump says, they tend to be like a box of chocolates “you never know what you’re gonna get.” I was pleasantly surprised by this one and I couldn’t put it down.

I tend to talk about this underrated book a lot, but it never got a lot of hype when it came out, so someone has to talk about it, right?

4. THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG – a book that certainly deserved all the hype it got

Last June, hype for A Reaper at the Gates was all over the place on Twitter. I hadn’t read the first two books yet, but I was curious. So I decided to give An Ember in the Ashes a try. Lucky for me, there was a copy available at my library.

I ended up reading these fairly long books quickly. I think they took me a day per book. I couldn’t put them down. So for me, this book truly did live up to all the hype that it was given.

5. HAPPY MUSIC – a book with some very beautiful and truly memorable quotes

I just recently started a book journal, where I copy down some of my favorite quotes. Sometimes I’m just too into the book to stop and write down quotes, but I try. One book that I wrote down a lot of quotes from was Finale.

This was such a beautiful book, and it has some gorgeous quotes in it. It definitely deserves a spot in the happy music slot.

6. GETTING OLDER – a book that you read a long time ago, but you think that you would appreciate it more if you read it as a more mature reader

I remember reading Jayne Eyre so long ago that I barely remember what happened. If I read it now, I’d probably get more out of it than I did when I was in high school or middle school.

Although… I’m not really sure I want to read it any time soon? I know a lot of people like it, but there are just way too many books on my TBR, including some older books like Les Miserables, so I’m not sure if I will read it again. But who knows?

7. SWEET BIRTHDAY MEMORIES – a book that kept you incredibly happy during a sad or demanding period of your life

This is another prompt that I’m not sure how to answer. But I read Rilla of Ingleside when I was in middle school or high school (I don’t remember which) and I remember it was a book with all the feels. I couldn’t help but crying towards the end.

Okay, maybe that’s not a good example? But perhaps if you’re crying from what’s happening to fictional characters, you’re not so worried about your own petty concerns? High school and middle school was a fairly depressing time for me, and I loved this book. Another good thing about this book is that it reminds me of my grandma (she was awesome).

So that’s all the prompts for today! If you decide to do this tag for your birthday, let me know!

Favorite Fathers (Fangirling on Friday)

By Brookelorren on June 21, 2019June 19, 20194 Comments

::Waves:: Hello! Welcome to another edition of Fangirling on Friday, where we fangirl over something. Today, we’re going to talk about favorite fathers!

I thought this topic might be easier than Favorite Mothers, but now that I’m writing this, I’m not so sure. There aren’t too many parents — period — in YA books! I’ll do my best though.

Colm Fahey: Crooked Kingdom – Leigh Bardugo

Jesper’s dad was the first name that came to mind when I thought of good dads. Sure, he wasn’t perfect — he kinda messed up a bit when Jesper was a kid — but he also didn’t freak out too badly when he found out just how badly his son had messed up. I don’t know about you, but if I found out my kid was about to lose my house, had dropped out of college, and now bad guys were after us? I wouldn’t be that cool.

The Dad in Alex, Approximately – Jenn Bennett

So I don’t remember the dad’s name, okay? Anyway, he gets Bailey a job, fixes up a motorcycle for her, and seems like a cool guy. His relationship with Bailey’s mom didn’t really work out, and now he lives on the opposite side of the country from her, and he eventually starts to have a life of his own again, finding a new girlfriend. Doesn’t seem like such a bad dad to have.

Kin: Here and Now and Then – Mike Chen

I remembered Kin when I first started thinking about this topic. In this book, the dad is literally the hero. He’s the time-traveler with the daughter he’s trying to save. He doesn’t give up on her, even though he has to break a few rules in the process. Ultimately, he is willing to give up some of his own happiness for his daughter’s benefit. But it does turn out all good.

Cetti’s Adoptive Dad: Storm Glass – Jeff Wheeler

I almost forgot Cetti’s adoptive dad in Storm Glass (I can’t remember his name). There aren’t too many adoptive parents in YA. I haven’t read any of the other books in The Harbinger series yet, but at least in the first book, he seems like a good guy. First, he takes in this little street girl. Then, he still pursues adoption even though his social circle is against it. And he seems like an understanding and caring guy.

I tried to find some other dads, but I’m drawing a blank for good dads. The dads in Spin the Dawn, Red Queen, and A Court of Thorns and Roses meant well, but they were broken. And let’s not even talk about dads like those in The Young Elites and Heartless — those were awful. Let’s face it, it’s hard to find good parents in YA.

Kingdom of Ash

By Brookelorren on June 20, 2019April 19, 20194 Comments

The final installment of Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass series is Kingdom of Ash. At 980 pages, this is an epic book. To be honest, it was a little bit too long. But it was a fitting end to a great series.

Because this is a review of the last book of a series, there are spoilers for the first six books.

At the beginning of the book, things look hopeless. Aelin is in an iron box trapped by Maeve (whom we now know is Valg), all of our protagonists are separated, and the forces of evil have their armies everywhere. How are they going to find Aelin and fight off all these forces? I don’t think I’m really spoiling much to say that they’re going to eventually win. An ending where Maeve and Erawan win and everyone dies would have everybody shaking their fists, vowing to never read another Sarah J. Maas book again.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was interesting to see the twists and turns, and find out how Ms. Maas was going to pull the characters out of all the messes they got themselves into. There were several situations where things looked really bleak. Sadly, not everybody will survive. In the end, there was no irrational “oh the gods came down and saved everyone” end either. The way the conflict was resolved was quite satisfying.

A Really Long Book

I like big books as well as the next person, but Kingdom of Ash might have been a little bit too long. There were too many long, detailed battle scenes. While I enjoy history, I don’t particularly care for reading a lot of battle scenes. They can easily become too much for me. I gave this book four stars on Goodreads – pretty much the reason it lost a star was the length. Partly due to the battle scenes.

Kingdom of Ash is very detailed. I found myself referring to the map several times while reading this book. There were characters that show up in this book that we haven’t seen since Throne of Glass. There is so much going on in this book that someday I may have to binge-read this series again just to remember everything that happened.

To give an example of how long this book is, there’s about 100 pages of this book where stuff happens after the climax of the book: coronations, wedding talk, that sort of thing. Yes, I want to find out what happens to the characters afterwards, but for 100 pages? After already reading nearly 900 pages? It was a little bit much.

Conclusion

I liked this book. There were a lot of great characters and subplots, but the length was just a bit too much, even for someone that reads a lot of long books. If you’re going to make your fiction book nearly 1000 pages, make sure they’re all necessary.

Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2019

By Brookelorren on June 18, 2019June 10, 201947 Comments

Hi! Welcome to another episode of Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). Today we’re going to talk about my most anticipated releases for the second half of 2019. I had to list one book that comes out in 2020, because I could only think of nine that come out between July and December (although I’m sure to find some new anticipated releases this week). I won’t be including books I’ve already read.

You don’t have to be a mind reader to figure out that my most anticipated release this year is Rebel by Marie Lu. I pre-ordered this book within an hour of the cover reveal. Legend is my favorite book series and is by far the series I’ve written the most fanfiction about (I recently started a fanfic that’s been going through my mind since last summer with mostly original characters that takes place between Wildcard and Legend). This book comes out on October 1st, and is competing with two other books I’ve pre-ordered for that day.

Since we’re talking about October 1st releases, another anticipated release is The End and Other Beginnings by Veronica Roth. Ms. Roth is my other autobuy author. This book features two short stories from the Carve the Mark universe, as well as the short story “Inertia” which was published earlier in Summer Days and Summer Nights and is a story I love. They’re making “Inertia” into a movie!

The final October 1st release I have pre-ordered is Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Her Grisha Verse books and Six of Crows duology, which I read earlier this year, were amazing! I can’t believe that there are three amazing books coming out on the same day. Although I won’t be able to read them all the day they come out, I’ll be pretty busy that week. I might need to forego my usual Monday ARC review on October 6th because I’ll be busy reading these (unless I can read ahead).

I’m surprised that I haven’t posted a picture of The Queen of Nothing on this blog before, since I’ve been talking about it all year. At any rate, Matthew the Book Snake will appear on two books on my shelves this year. In addition to Leigh Bardugo’s book, he also appears on Holly Black’s The Queen of Nothing. This was originally supposed to come out in 2020 but was moved up. On the other hand, Cassandra Clare’s Chain of Gold was moved from November of this year until next March.

I just recently posted my review of Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett (I loved that book!). Shortly after that, I saw that she was publishing The Lady Rogue later this year. It’s coming out in September, but Netgalley was kind enough to approve me for an ARC, so I’ll probably read this in August (unless I get ahead in my ARC reading). This book has Vlad the Impaler’s magical ring in it!

Are dystopian books making a comeback? Let’s hope so! Joelle Charbonneau’s Verify is a story about a civilization where nobody can lie. It sounds interesting.

I’m going to really have to learn how to spell Guinevere, because I really want to read Kiersten White’s The Guinevere Deception, which comes out on November 5th! Let’s not pay attention to the fact that I’ve already bought two of her books that I haven’t read yet, I want this one too! One of her books is on my summer TBR, so I will be reading one of her books soon though.

When I saw Renée Ahdieh’s announcement that she was writing a book about vampires, I wasn’t really all that excited, even though I love the three books I’ve read from her already. But I had the chance to read the beginning of The Beautiful on Bookish first. I really liked what I read. Maybe I should add her to my autobuy author list?

The last late 2019 release that I’m really looking forward to is Color Outside the Lines. I was fortunate enough to have Edelweiss approve me to read a review copy (although it’s missing a couple of the stories).

The one 2020 release I’m including on this list is Cassandra Clare’s Chain of Gold, the first book in The Last Hours trilogy. It was originally supposed to be released this November, but it got pushed back to next March. I pre-ordered this on December 26th last year; right now that’s a record for me: I pre-ordered this book 14 months in advance. I know it’s going to be good though.

So those are my most anticipated releases for the second half of 2019 (and one for early 2020). I can’t wait to see all the books you’re looking forward to (as if my TBR needs help). Next week, we’re going to talk about books on my summer 2019 TBR.

Read Around the World/US Challenge

By Brookelorren on June 17, 2019June 17, 20196 Comments

Most of us readers know that books can take us to different places and help us to see the world in different ways. I had heard about the Read Around The World Challenge that someone had done on Pinterest about a year ago, and I thought it sounded interesting. After reading Wicked Fox, and going through my Memrize course where I’m trying to recognize all the locations on the world by looking at a map, I thought I’d actually try it.

Read Around The World

There are 196 places where I’d like to read books from. If you’d like to read books from all around the world too, you can use this list from A Year of Reading the World as a guide. I plan on taking more than a year to do this challenge. I don’t know how long it will take me, but I’m not concerned.

Many of us want to read diversely, what’s more diverse than reading books from all around the world? For the purposes of my challenge, I’m not going to count historical books from a long time ago (so Enchantée, set during the French Revolution, won’t count). I’m also not going to include books set in the future (so I can’t use Warcross for Japan). I might make an exception if there are some really difficult countries to find books for.

I’ve found some books that I’ve already read for this challenge (I won’t count books that I read prior to starting this blog either).

Australia: A Thousand Perfect Notes – C.G. Drews

If you decide to do this challenge too, Australia should be easy to knock off your list. Paper Fury’s A Thousand Perfect Notes is set in Australia, written by an Australian! There are plenty of other books set in this country, and if you don’t want to read this book (but why wouldn’t you) then there are plenty of Australian book bloggers you can get recommendations from. My Review

Brazil: Never Stop Walking – Christina Rickardsson

For Brazil, I read Never Stop Walking by Christina Rickardsson. Yes, part of this book does cover what happened after she was adopted and moved away from Brazil, but a good portion of this story takes place there, so I’m going to count it. This was a really eye-opening story. Wow. If you’re interested in a book that covers how things are not-so-nice in some places, you might be interested. My Review

Ireland: Brenna Morgan & The Iron Key – Katie Masters

I’ve read a couple of books set in Ireland, including Brenna Morgan & The Iron Key by Katie Masters. I believe The Wren Hunt is also set here. If you decide to do this challenge, there are plenty of books set in Ireland. This is a fantasy book, but for me, I’m going to count fantasy books (as long as they’re set in fairly modernish times in that country). My Review

South Korea: Wicked Fox – Kat Cho

I just read this book last week, and I mentioned earlier that this was partly why I was inspired to do this challenge. This is another story with fantasy elements in it, but it’s set in Seoul, South Korea. I loved how the setting played a huge part in this story (even in the lore). I’m not sure if I’ve read any other books set here before, but this one worked. My Review

United States of America: When Elephants Fly – Nancy Richardson Fischer

For most people, The United States of America will be one of the easiest countries to check off your list. There was no particular reason why I put this book here, except they travel through different states, so it doesn’t really fit in a particular location in the US for the 50 State Challenge I also want to do. My Review

Read Around the United States

In addition to challenging myself to read books from every country, I’m also going to challenge myself to read books set in all 50 states.

California: Alex, Approximately – Jenn Bennett

California was really easy to check off my 50 States list. There are a lot of books set here, including When Dimple Met Rishi and a lot of The Dark Artifices. I picked Alex, Approximately because it has surfing, and reading it reminded me of a camping trip I took with my friends to the Redwood Forest. My Review

Nebraska: Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell

I don’t read a lot of books set in Nebraska, but fortunately, Fangirl is. So I got to check that one off my list. The setting doesn’t play a huge part in this story, but Rainbow Rowell lives in Nebraska, so I’m guessing that when she talks about the setting, she’s pretty accurate. I know when I write about places I’ve lived, it’s so much easier for me to describe what’s going on because I can picture everything in my head as I’m writing it. My Review

New York: City of Bones – Cassandra Clare

A lot of The Mortal Instruments takes place in New York City, so I’m including it here. Like the Reading the World Challenge I’m doing, I’m willing to count fantasy books that are set in fairly recent times. There are a ton of books that are set in New York State, so these should be pretty easy to find, but this is the one I picked for this slot. My Review

West Virginia: Into the Hollow – Lynn Vroman

I don’t read many books set in West Virginia, which is why I thought Into the Hollow was so interesting when I read it. I’ve been to 43 states, but West Virginia is one of them. Except now, I’ve taken a book there. The setting is well-described in this book, and also plays a pretty big role in the story itself. My Review

So there are my initial entries for my Read Around the World and Read Around the United States book challenges. I don’t know how long it will take, but I think this would be fun. If you decide to do something like this too, let me know!

Wicked Fox was — Wicked!

By Brookelorren on June 17, 2019June 16, 2019Leave a Comment

I first heard about Wicked Fox by Kat Cho this spring. From the title, I thought “meh” but then I saw that cover. Then I knew I had to read that book. I was fortunate enough to get an Advanced Reader Copy through Bookish First — I’ve had a lot of good luck with them recently and have started to love them. The book was amazing! I’ll be sharing this book with my daughter.

Jihoon is a teenage slacker in the equivalent of his junior year of high school (I’m just going to dispense with last names and name suffixes for purposes of this review, even though they’re in the book). Miyoung is also a teenager, but she has a secret: she’s half gumiho, which is like a Japanese kitsune or a Ninetails in Pokémon. This story takes place in modern-day Seoul, Korea, so the mythology is a little different.

We discover early on that Miyoung is not your average gumiho: these creatures are immortal, but they have to feed off of the gi, or energy, of unsuspecting humans once a month in order to live. Miyoung always tries to find the dregs of society to feed off of; she doesn’t want to harm the innocent. When Jihoon discovers her secret, she doesn’t destroy him; she asks him to keep her dangerous secret. When she shows up at his school, things could get a little bit awkward. Jihoon tries to strike up a friendship with her, but she tries to push him away.

Like any good story, that isn’t the end. Miyoung’s life is in danger, and Jihoon might become collateral damage. Dun dun dun! You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens.

What I Liked

I liked a lot of things about this book. One of the things I love about it is the setting. I’ve read several books in the last year that take place in a fantastic place inspired by medieval Japan or China, but nothing that took place in Korea. The book immersed me in this world: the food, the clothes, the way people address each other. I’m a student of history and a little bit of archaeology, so I appreciated some of the details that matched up with some of the history books and archaological magazines that addressed this culture.

The characters were great too. Jihoon didn’t live in this bubble where he finally popped into life when he met Miyoung. He has friends and family members, and not all of it is good. Miyoung also has a family history, and you can’t help but dislike her mother. Towards the end of the book, you discover that not everything is as it seems.

The book also has a great theme of abandonment by family members, and how it can affect you. Both Jihoon and Miyoung have complicated histories with their families, and it affects how they relate to the people around them. I thought it was well done.

What I Liked Less

I loved almost everything about Wicked Fox, but if I’m going to get nitpicky, there’s a part towards the end of the book where Jihoon has health problems and he has to pay the rent from his own labor and go to school… it seems a little unrealistic. But this is really nitpicky; I loved the writing style and I just saw this as a minor plot hole.

Conclusion

Should you read Wicked Fox? Absolutely! This book is great if you like contemporary fantasies, enjoy books set in Asia, and like books that are light in the romance department. There really aren’t any scenes that are objectionable for younger YA readers.

The book winds up nicely, but there is room for another book in the series. A second book is planned, and I already added it to my TBR.

Wicked Fox will be released on June 25th, but you can pre-order it now.

The Quick Fire Fantasy Book Tag

By Brookelorren on June 16, 2019June 15, 20193 Comments

I’ve been having fun recently doing book tags, and I recently found the Quick Fire Fantasy Book Tag over at The Bookworm Dreamer and I decided to do it!

Rules:

Thank the person who tagged you and link back to their post
Link to the creator’s blog (thebookwormdreamer.wordpress.com) in your post
Answer the prompts below – all fantasy books!
Tag 5 others to take part
Enjoy!

5 Star Book

I loved this book! I read it on my breaks (and before/after work) while I was still working at my old job, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it!

After reading this, I just had to pre-order the sequel, Smoke in the Sun. It wasn’t quite as good as the first book, but it was still pretty good! Her new book, The Beautiful, comes out this fall, and although I don’t really care for vampires, I’ve had the opportunity to read a preview and it looks good too.

Always Going to Recommend

Another book I loved was An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir! I’m patiently waiting for the fourth and final book in the series to come out, but the first three have been outstanding.

I love how these books (and Flame in the Mist) have such unique settings. There are plenty of amazing fantasy books set in a Renaissance Europe-ish place, but it’s pretty fun to see fantasy settings set somewhere else too.

Own it But Haven’t Read it Yet

Pretty much every week I visit web sites on Top Ten Tuesday and I say to myself “I really need to read one of V.E. Schwab’s books”. I own multiple books written by her. Despite saying this every week, have I read any of her books? Sadly, the answer is still no.

Someday. Soon (I think). I’ve said that about other authors and eventually started reading their books, so Ms. Schwab’s time will come as well.

Would Read Again

I hope to read the Carve the Mark duology sometime soon. Ms. Roth is coming out with a new book, The End and Other Beginnings, on October 1st, and it has two short stories from this universe in it. Besides, even though I’ve read the first book from this duology four times (once in Spanish), I’ve only read the sequel, The Fates Divide, once. It was a great book and I’d like to read it again. Sometimes books are better the second time around because you see more.

In Another World

Strange the Dreamer was set in such a unique world with unique people. Lazlo and Sarai’s relationship was sweet, and it had great villains too.

Muse of Nightmares had some surprises to it, and although I don’t think we’ll see any new books from this series come out (maybe a novella though), this story left the door open for some great fanfiction. I’m not inspired to write any at the moment, but maybe someone else has written some?

Back on Earth

The Clockwork series is another trilogy I would like to reread at some point. If they didn’t keep coming out with amazing new books!

At any rate, the Shadowhunter’s books are an excellent example of fantasy books set in the real world. They’re all connected to a specific time period (which I’m sure is a challenge because they have to be somewhat historically accurate as well) and yet, they’re full of magic and otherworldly creatures.

So that’s the Quick Fire Fantasy Book Tag! I have to admit, even though I like doing tags, I never know who to tag (I don’t know who would be interested; I don’t want to leave anybody out, etc.) so I’m just going to say, if you want to do it, then consider yourself tagged! If you decide to do this one, please tag me so I can go see what you came up with.