All posts tagged book reviews

The Evil Queen

By Brookelorren on 4 Comments

We all know the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The Disney cartoon came out over 80 years ago and, to be honest, the story feels dated. The Evil Queen is a Snow White retelling that gives the story an interesting twist.

Everly is a girl who grew up in a typical high school in America. Only she’s not normal. Everybody seems to hate her for some unnatural reason. She doesn’t know why. She’s only had one boyfriend (over the summer) but he broke up with her before school started again because he was embarrassed for people to think they were together. She’s very cynical towards life.

Her mother always told her fairy tales, like most mothers do, but she doesn’t think anything of it until she starts seeing a girl other than herself in her mirror. The girl is kind to animals, helps the villagers… the calls the girl Angel.

One day, Everly’s world is turned upside down when she realizes that the girl in the mirror is an actual girl living in a land called Enchantia, she is a sorcerian, and she has to leave her current world for the fairy tale one. She falls for a boy who hates sorcerians (although he doesn’t know she is one). Events outside of her control force her to do things that make her think that she’s the Evil Queen in the Snow White story. While everybody seems to be against her, her sister seems to be in trouble and she’s helpless to save her.

Things aren’t exactly as they seem, but you’ll have to read the story to find out what happens.

What I Liked

This story is unlike other fantasy books I’ve read. In most fantasy books, the characters talk differently. Everly, who came straight from your local high school, talks like a teenager. Sometimes the locals in Enchantia don’t really understand her, since she’s using contemporary slang.

The Enchantian characters in this book also don’t seem like your typical Disney characters straight from the 1930s. Prince Charming and Everly exchange sexual innuendos, and two of the female characters are romantically involved. It’s nice how the story breathes a spark of new life into an old classic story.

This story also conveyed the message that we are who we choose to be, not who we are fated to be. I can’t say much more without giving away the plot, but not all the characters seem to fit into their given roles.

What I Didn’t Like

I didn’t care for the prologue, but I don’t like most prologues. Everly had her problems at time, but that’s typical of teenagers.

Overall

Overall, I thought The Evil Queen was an interesting take on the Snow White fairy tale. If you’re looking for a story about a damsel in the forest washing clothes for some elderly dwarfs, this isn’t it. What it is is a story about a girl from today, who gets thrust into a fairy tale world, thinking she’s expected to be one character, but discovering that she can make her own choices and isn’t necessarily stuck to one particular role. I enjoyed it, and will probably read the second book in the series when it comes out.

Soul of the Sword

By Brookelorren on 2 Comments
Soul of the Sword

I was recently given the opportunity to read Soul of the Sword, the second book in Julie Kagawa’s Shadow of the Fox trilogy (thank you, Netgalley). I loved this book, just like I did the first book in the series, and I’m looking forward to reading the conclusion when it comes out.

Since this is the second book in a trilogy, there are spoilers for Shadow of the Fox in this review. I wrote a review for the first book if you’re interested.

Kage Tatsumi is now possessed by the demon Haikamono, who is still trying to find the scroll for his own reasons. He now knows that Yumeko is half-kitsune, but for now, they part ways. Both of them are still trying to get to the Steel Feather Temple.

Soul of the Sword still has the great Japanese-inspired setting and rich mythology that Shadow of the Fox had, but the characters and the world develop more fully in this sequel. We learn more about the corruption that has seeped into the universe, as well as more of the history.

Yumeko develops into a stronger character in this book. Although she keeps her sweet spirit, she continues to develop as a person, taking her destiny into her own hands and fighting for her friends. She needs this strength of character (as well as the kitsune magic she is getting better at wielding) when she faces enemies towards the end of the book.

Suki, one of the minor characters in the first book, takes a more important role in Soul of the Sword. I was wondering why she was in the first book; in the second book, her role becomes clearer. I still think that she will have a part to play in the final book of this trilogy.

Yumeko and Tatsumi continue to develop feelings for each other in this book, but will they ever have a happy end together? At the end of this book, I don’t even know if they’ll end up together. There is another couple in this book, but I won’t give it away here. I did see it coming long before they actually became something of an item.

The book doesn’t exactly end in a cliffhanger, but Yumeko and Tatsumi’s job is not done. There is a twist at the end that I didn’t expect. I definitely want to read the next book to find out how this story concludes.

Shadow of the Fox

By Brookelorren on 3 Comments
Shadow of the Fox cover

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

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Crooked Kingdom cover

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 2 Comments
Six of Crows cover

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 4 Comments
Sky in the Deep cover

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.

The Thirteenth Guardian

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I had the opportunity to read an ARC of The Thirteenth Guardian by K. M. Lewis (thank you Netgalley). My feelings on this book are nearly the opposite of what I felt about Children of Blood and Bone. While Children of Blood and Bone had fantastic writing, but just wasn’t the book for me, The Thirteenth Guardian had a story that clicked with me, but the writing itself didn’t match my love for the story.

What I Liked

I loved the story. The world is in chaos. Six individuals have to make their way to Innsbruck, Austria, because they have genetic traits that for some reason make them valuable. We don’t know why these people are special, or what the big secret is, until the very end. The book synopsis doesn’t really tell you that this is a disaster book, but this book is like Revelation on steroids.

The mysterious events are pretty cool, and seem to mirror the Biblical Exodus. The book heavily draws from the Bible and even some Medieval art. I loved this aspect of the story. As someone who lived in Italy for several years, I loved how some of these scenes took place in Rome and The Vatican, which I’ve visited a few times.

What Was Lackluster

Although I enjoyed this book so much that I sped through it in two days, I had to downgrade this book an entire star because I had problems with the writing.

Dialogue

The dialogue felt a little wooden and most of the characters didn’t use any contractions in their speech. I realize that some characters (like Data on Star Trek) talk without contractions as a part of who they are, but this is prevalent throughout the story. Here is one example I highlighted where the dialogue just wasn’t good:

"Oh, no.  That is horrible news, Leo."
"Yes it is."

Do people really speak like this?

Head Hopping

This may be a stylistic issue on my part, but I prefer when we can’t see into every character’s mind. One instance of this that stuck in my mind was where the book hopped into a minor character’s head for one paragraph so we readers could see that she was attracted to the other character, and then went back to a main character. Was that necessary? Maybe the author could have shown her flirting, or left that out entirely. At the time, I thought maybe that paragraph foreshadowed a relationship between the two… but no… that character was killed off shortly afterwards.

The Ending

Most of the end of this book was fine. We find out what the secret is, the characters are ready to start the next chapter of their lives, and then… they start talking about going on this quest that would literally require a Deus ex machina to complete. Without giving away too much, the world has gone through Revelation on steroids, technology of any kind is pretty much kaputt, and they start talking about finding a large object at the bottom of the ocean thousands of miles away. The book is supposed to be part of a trilogy, so I guess they do go after it? I don’t know how they’ll manage it.

Conclusion

I enjoyed The Thirteenth Guardian. If I see the sequel on Netgalley at some point, I would read it, despite my critique about the writing. This is his debut, and it is an indie book, so I do believe that there’s a good chance that his writing will improve. Even if the criticisms remain in place for the sequel, it was a good story and I wouldn’t mind seeing how the characters would pull off this impossible task.

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins

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I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to read Rebel by Beverly Jenkins (thank you Netgalley!). This was a great book! Since I’m sure I’m going to also love Marie Lu’s Rebel later on this year, it looks like there will be two amazing books with that title out in 2019.

Val is a black schoolteacher in the days shortly after the Civil War. Although originally from New York, she’s in New Orleans for a short time while her intended is away in France on a business trip. She’s teaching a group of newly freed slaves (both children and adults) how to read. She’s proud of all the progress that her students are making.

But even though the slaves have been freed, this is still a dangerous time to be black and live in the South. A lot of white people don’t like the idea of black people becoming better people. A group of supremacists decide to derail Val’s teaching plans and try to attack her.

Val isn’t the kind of person that will allow herself to be attacked without fighting back though. And that’s how she meets Drake LaVeq.

LaVeq is instantly attracted to her, but after he deters the thugs that are after her, he thinks that’s the last he’ll see of her — until she ends up at his brother’s hotel. You’ll have to read the book to find out how they find their happily ever after.

There were a lot of things I loved about this book. For one thing, I loved Val’s character. She was brave and willing to stand up for herself, yet at the same time, she was realistically constrained by the expectations that society had for her at the time. She wasn’t this Mary Sue kind of character that would kick the bad guy’s butt and then nobody would think anything of it. This did happen right after the Civil War. Even in the 1960s, that would have been unrealistic. LaVeq was also a well-written character. He was generous, yet still had his own demons to deal with (part of them having to do with being interested in a lady that was engaged to another).

I thought the setting portrayed the struggles that black people had to deal with after the Civil War quite well. There were a lot of white people at the time that didn’t want to see black people do well. Some former slave owners tried to force their former slaves to work for them again. Black people’s testimony wasn’t worth as much in a court of law, and some white people could get away with terrorizing black people. The first black people were elected to the US Senate around this time; this book really brings to life the struggles these people must have gone through. At the same time, Rebel doesn’t gloss over the fact the everybody was struggling at the time. There were poor whites in the South at the time too.

In addition to the amazing setting and the great characters, the romance aspect of this story was good too. LaVeq was respectful and tried to maintain his distance from Val (although that wasn’t easy to do). I loved how they resolved the situation with Val’s intended, and even with her father (who is an old-fashioned kind of guy). Val and LaVeq were great together and their story was compelling.

If you’re interested in a romance set in the post-Civil War era, I highly recommend Rebel by Beverly Jenkins. She’s an outstanding author and I would read other books by her in the future.

Happily and Madly

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I recently was given the opportunity to read Happily and Madly by Alexis Bass (thank you, Netgalley). The premise sounded really exciting: Maris Brown would one day fall happily and madly in love, and she might die before her 18th birthday.

Maris Brown isn’t one for making intelligent choices. Her former boyfriend, Trevor, was into drugs, and she once got into trouble because she was with him when he was doing something stupid. She also comes from a broken home: her father left her mother for another family, and now she’s going to spend the summer with him. One of the new family members she’s going to stay with is Chelsea, who is about the same age as Maris.

Unfortunately, I have to give out a slight spoiler to discuss my feelings about this book. Chelsea and Maris become friends. Chelsea is dating Edison… a boy who Maris meets and instantly becomes attracted to, before she knows he’s Edison. But does that cause her to stay away from her? No. She still is friends with Chelsea even while they’re all hanging out like a big happy family and Chelsea kisses Edison right in front of her.

I had to ask myself why this aspect of Happily and Madly bothered me while the book I’m writing involves a girl that’s supposed to become betrothed to someone but falls in love with someone else. I’ve also lived something like this. In my story and in my life, the two people who were both seeing the third person were not friends. I think that’s what I found difficult about that situation.

Maris is also a horrible spy, yet she does this on more than one occasion. She follows people to see what’s going on and then gets caught. Stop doing this! It’s maddening. It would be one thing if she did it in the beginning and learned to be more cautious later on… but no.

The final thing that bothered me was… they were always hanging out with Edison’s family on their summer vacation, and his family was loaded so they paid for everything. Who does this? Maris is expected to hang out with the Brown family most of the time and watch the fireworks with them every evening. She’s 17. She’s not allowed to choose her own things to do every now and then?

That being said, Happily and Madly was enjoyable overall. There were unanswered questions that kept me reading. Even though there was heartbreak (obviously, when two people love the same boy) the situation does get resolved. I think eventually, the good guys will live satisfying lives. If you like forbidden romances and don’t mind if the boy’s two girlfriends are friends, and don’t mind her clunky spying, you might like it.

No Place Like Here

By Brookelorren on 6 Comments
No Place Like Here cover

No Place Like Here by Christina June is branded as a Hansel and Gretel retelling. While I didn’t see a lot of similarities between this contemporary story and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, it was a sweet story about family.

Ashlyn is looking forward to the summer. After making a mistake by choosing the wrong boyfriend and getting into a tight spot, her father had sent her off to boarding school. As the school year ends, she’s excited about spending her vacation with her best friend.

Unfortunately, her plans are derailed when she finds out that her dad is going to prison, her mother is going to a residential facility to deal with her depression, and Dad’s plans for her summer involve working at a summer camp. She’s supposed to work there with a cousin she barely knows. Could anything be worse?

Over the course of the summer, Ashlyn learns to speak up for herself and gain confidence. Through a series of trials, she deals with boys, work, and her family. When we close the book, we have hope that things are looking up for this family.

No Place Like Here was an enjoyable book. The story was interesting, and Ashlyn seemed to be a well-rounded character with a compelling backstory. Her family situation is probably like many others out there – families that do love each other, but have drifted apart and have trouble communicating what they really want.

That being said, there are things that could have been better with this book. Most of the supporting characters could have used more depth to them. The worldbuilding could have been stronger. Since the book is only 288 pages long, there isn’t exactly a lot of room to develop these aspects more.

The story is light in the romance department, but is very believable, since we are talking about summer camp here. You’re not likely to find your true love while working at a summer camp at age 17.

Overall, if you’re looking for a quick contemporary book where a teenager learns how to stand up for herself and help her family heal, No Place Like Here may be up your alley. It’s not the Hansel and Gretel retelling that I thought it would be, but that’s okay. It was still a good story. This book will be released on May 21st, but you can pre-order it now.