Tag: Young Adult

Serena’s Review: “Immortal Dark”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Immortal Dark” by Tigest Girma

Publishing Info: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, September 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.

It began long before my time, but something has always hunted our family.

Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane grew up far from the arcane society she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power through vampire companionship. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—the very vampire bound to their family, the cruel yet captivating Susenyos Sagad.

To find June, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University—where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires and inherit their family legacies. Kidan must survive living with Susenyos—even as he does everything he can to drive her away. It doesn’t matter that Susenyos’s wickedness speaks to Kidan’s own violent nature and tempts her to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill Susenyos at all costs.

When a murder mirroring June’s disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. There she discovers a centuries-old threat—and June could be at the center of it. To save her sister, Kidan must bring Uxlay to its knees and either break free from the horrors of her own actions or embrace the dark entanglements of love—and the blood it requires.

Review: I’ve been looking forward to this one for a few months! While vampires aren’t my favorite supernatural beings, I’ve had a lot of success with some of the recent books featuring them. On top of that, this one added in several other tropes I enjoy: dark academia, gothic fiction, and an enemies-to-lovers romance.

Unfortunately, this one was a bit of a mixed bag for me. But it was by no means a complete loss, and by the time I had finished the book, I had mentally slotted this author into the “worth checking out again” category in my head. So, let’s start with what I did like. The writing had a lot of potential, I think. It got bogged down a bit in info-dumping and confused world-building, but on its own, it was good. There were several turns of phrase and story-building moments that stood out, and the strength of the writing itself is largely what pulled me through when I began to struggle.

I also liked a lot of the ideas that went into this world and its society, especially the dark academia aspects. There was a lot of creativity to be found here, and, as much as I hate the term, the gothic “vibes” were well done. I definitely wanted to learn more about this world, and became increasingly frustrated when the book continued to lack clarity with some of these elements.

Clarity, overall, was a real problem. Which was odd because there were also significant moments early in the novel that felt extremely info-dumpy. There were also a plethora of different plot lines and magic systems that were all introduced early in the book. So even with clunky exposition moments, I still felt unclear on exactly how any of this worked exactly and how these various plotlines were meant to weave together.

I also struggled with the characters themselves. For all that I love enemies-to-lovers romances, I’ve realized that I’m also fairly picky in this regard. Sure, they can be enemies, but there’s a point of animosity that it’s difficult to believe anyone would come back from. And that’s what we had here. These characters HATED one another and were truly terrible to one another, so much so that it was difficult to buy their slow reconciliation. To be fair, the book doesn’t rush this, and even by the end, it’s more of a “hate less” situation than anything.

But the biggest problem here was the struggle I had to become invested in the main character. She was truly terrible at times, and her hatred of the vampires was uncomfortable at times. On one hand, I appreciate books that don’t shy away from demonstrating what bigotry can look like. Many authors simply take the safe route and show villains being bigots and then pat themselves on the back for “tackling” a tough topic. But here, our main character is too truly blinded by her hatred of an entire group of people to engage honestly with the individual in front of her. However, while I appreciate the difficulty of this task, it still left me following a character I struggled to like.

As for the rest of the characters, most of them felt like cardboard cutouts of characters, reading as very flat. And while I think the writing was strong in its descriptive elements for the most part, the dialogue was a mess. There were many times where I honestly have no idea what the characters were even trying to say. It’s like they were talking in riddles simply because it was meant to make them seem deep. But in reality, they were saying nothing and no one talks like this.

This book was a bit all over the place. I think there was a lot of potential here, and perhaps the author will settle in to her style a bit more as she moves forward. But on its own, this book was a bit of a struggle for me to get through. I think it will best work for dark fantasy/romance readers who enjoy fairly extreme versions of enemies-to-lovers romances. Take “The Cruel Prince” dynamic and elevate the cruelty, essentially.

Rating 7: While the descriptive writing was good, the story felt bogged down by too many plot lines and inscrutable magic systems.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Immortal Dark” can be found on these Goodreads lists: The Vampire Renaissance and Magic Schools, Academies & Universities.

Kate’s Review: “The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here

Book: “The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s” by Hanna Alkaf

Publishing Info: Salaam Reads/ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, September 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: An all-girls school is struck with mysterious cases of screaming hysteria in this chilling dark academia thriller haunted by a deeply buried history clawing to the light.

For over a hundred years, girls have fought to attend St. Bernadette’s, with its reputation for shaping only the best and brightest young women. Unfortunately, there is also the screaming.

When a student begins to scream in the middle of class, a chain reaction starts that impacts the entire school. By the end of the day, seventeen girls are affected—along with St. Bernadette’s stellar reputation.

Khadijah’s got her own scars to tend to, and watching her friends succumb to hysteria only rips apart wounds she’d rather keep closed. But when her sister falls to the screams, Khad knows she’s the only one who can save her. Rachel has always been far too occupied trying to reconcile her overbearing mother’s expectations with her own secret ambitions to pay attention to school antics. But just as Rachel finds her voice, it turns into screams.

Together, the two girls find themselves digging deeper into the school’s dark history, hunting for the truth. Little do they know that a specter lurks in the darkness, watching, waiting, and hungry for its next victim…

Review: Thank you to Salaam Reads for sending me an eARC of this novel!

I went to an elite private school in St. Paul, Minnesota, and let me tell you the pressure was pretty horrendous (especially for a girl with a slew of learning disabilities and ADHD). But because of this experience that continues to kind of haunt me to this day in some ways, I’m always interested in a thriller/horror story that has an elite private school as its location. So when I was approached to read “The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s” by Hanna Alkaf I was pretty much on board right away. You already had me at private school woes of school girls screaming their heads off, but then you really sold me when 1) it was in a locale and culture that I’m not super familiar with, as this book takes place in Malaysia, and 2) there was a hinted at supernatural side to it. So I took the plunge with high hopes, and I’m happy to say that they were pretty well met!

In terms of a mystery thriller with a potential supernatural twist, “The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadettes” checks a lot of boxes that make it a successful read. We have our two protagonists Khadijah and Rachel, who have alternating chapters and can give us multiple insights across the story as the mystery unfolds (aka, why are their classmates at their prestigious all girls school suddenly screaming for no discernible reason, and what isn’t the school telling the students?). I liked following both of them as they had very different paths in terms of getting the clues together, and as there were more and more questions about whether it is hysteria, something otherworldly, or perhaps something totally understandable, I found myself more and more eager to get to the solution. Some of the imagery in this book was also downright frightening, with Alkaf setting the scene and creating a vision in my minds eye of a girl screaming her head off that really got under my skin. This may be a bit more of a mystery thriller than a horror story, but let me tell you, the bits that were horror were superb.

And even beyond the well paced and creepy mystery and horror story at hand, I really liked the other themes of this book, specifically the calling out and dressing down of violent misogyny and the silencing of women to keep a system untouched and in place. Both Khadijah and Rachel have different ways that they are being silenced, and I liked the choice that Alkaf made to show that there are different ways for these girls to be silenced, whether it is Khadijah’s selective and self imposed non speaking due to the trauma that she endured at the hands of her stepfather, or Rachel not feeling like she can have a say in any part of her future due to her overbearing and cold mother. We shift between both of their perspectives, and it was effective to see their different experiences and the different ways that they fit into the overall mystery of why their classmates are screaming, and how their experiences are both the results of societal expectations for women in their community, with Khadijah being basically silenced in the wake of her stepfather’s crimes and her victimization, and Rachel being pushed into a very specific acceptable box. Throw in the fact that the school is trying to hide a dark history with screaming girls and bouts of hysteria, and doesn’t want Khadijah making waves as she investigates, and you have a critique of misogyny that sears and burns in the best ways.

“The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s” is a well done thriller/mystery/horror tale. Hanna Alkaf is someone to watch. I know I will be doing so.

Rating 8: A tense and angry horror story that calls out violent and systemic misogyny and lauds feminine rage, “The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s” is a searing YA tale of all too real terrors to go with the fantastical ones.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s” is included on the Goodreads lists “Books by Malaysian Authors/Set in Malaysia”, and “Horror to Look Forward to in 2024”.

Book Club Review: “Summer Days and Summer Nights”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. This June we celebrated our 10 year anniversary of book club. So in celebration of that milestone, we are re-visiting authors we read way back in those first few years of our book club. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories” by Stephanie Perkins (Ed.)

Publishing Info: St. Martin’s Griffin, May 2016

Where Did We Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Repeat Author: Stephanie Perkins

Book Description: Maybe it’s the long, lazy days, or maybe it’s the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

Kate’s Thoughts

WAAAAY back during our first cycle of Book Club get togethers one of our members chose the anthology “My True Love Gave To Me”, which had a bunch of then in demand YA authors writing holiday themed romance short stories. We all generally enjoyed it, with some authors standing out quite a bit. So it was fun when one of our other members picked the summertime follow up “Summer Days and Summer Nights”, harkening not only to a repeat author, but also continuing into the quasi-sequel. And much like the previous book in the series, I had some authors who really stood out this time, while others kind of fell back to the wayside.

Unsurprisingly it was the works by Leigh Bardugo, Libba Bray, and Brandy Colbert that I enjoyed most, as I do like those authors in general and I liked their own interpretations of a summer romance short story prompt. You have some fantasy bittersweetness from Bardugo’s “Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail”, you had some horror humor from Bray’s “Last Stand at the Cinegore”, and you had some genuine teenage love story and ache from Colbert’s “Good Luck and Farewell”, and they ran such tonal gamuts and yet completely fit into the prompt it was charming as hell to see. That said, many of the other stories in this anthology were hit or miss for me, some being enjoyable, others just falling flat. Which is probably just due to the fact that romance isn’t really my thing unless it meets certain parameters. Also something to note is this book came out in 2016, and it’s kind of a fun snapshot into which YA authors were being approached with these kinds of ‘let’s cover a broad range of in demand voices’ anthologies.

Overall, it was a perfectly fine summer read for our Book Club, with some strong stand outs from authors who have maintained their popularity over the years. If you want to cling to summer for one last hurrah, this could be a good fit!

Serena’s Thoughts

As readers of this blog know, neither Kate or I read tons of short story collections. I’m perhaps more on the record for usually actively avoiding them. And yet, somehow this is the first of THREE short story collections that I am reading and reviewing this month! You’ll see two back-to-back short story reviews coming from me next week. I had some control obviously over those, but it’s just fate that the bookclub book also fell in this rare category!

And I agree with much of what Kate said. For me, this collection really lived and died on the strength of the individual authors of each story. And, like Kate, I found myself naturally gravitating towards the authors I enjoyed outside of short story collections. I, too, very much enjoyed the Leigh Bardugo story, as it neatly highlighted so many of the strengths of her writing: bittersweet fantasy stories, complex characters, and beautiful turns of phrase.

I also really enjoyed Veronica Roth’s entry. Like so many of her books, her story was incredibly unique, pushing the boundaries of fantasy and science fiction in new and fresh ways. My one critique of this story is that as much as I love a happy ending, I do think this is a case where Roth was held back by the prompt of a love story collection which required happy-ever-after endings. From my experience, Roth has zero qualms about ending her books in tears, and I think this short story would have actually been stronger had it been allowed to be a bit darker towards the end.

There were also a number of authors who had fallen completely off my radar! Libba Bray being one of them! I read and reviewed her YA fantasy trilogy on the blog years ago, but as I hated (HATED) the way that trilogy ended, she’d fallen completely off my list of authors to follow. I did enjoy this story from her, however.

All this said, as a whole, I did struggle with this book. Other than the few stories I’ve mentioned here, I didn’t connect with many of the tales in this book. I’m not really the target audience for many of them, and obviously, I have my own personal hang-ups with short story collections. When your go-to read is epic fantasies that often come in around 55o pages, you really do struggle with the entire concept of a short story. But even putting that aside, I do think that a large chunk of these stories fell solidly in the “just ok” category. Many of them weren’t offering much new to readers and some of them employed “neat little stylistic tricks” that were frankly just annoying. If you’re a love of short stories and romance (and maybe check out the author list ahead of time to see how many of them you already enjoy), you may like this one.

Kate’s Rating 6: The stories I liked I REALLY liked, the others were pretty hit or miss bordering on meh.

Serena’s Rating 6: A few stands outs weren’t enough to save this reading experience for me, unfortunately. But fans of the individual authors involved may want to page through it and selectively read those stories!

Book Club Questions

  1. Did you have a story in this collection that you connected with the most? What about the least?
  2. Were there any authors in this collection that you were unfamiliar with before you picked it up? If so, did you discover any new authors you definitely want to read more from?
  3. In terms of authors you did know from this collection, did any of them surprise you with what they put forth as their story?
  4. Were there any stories in this collection that you would like to read more of, perhaps in a series of short stories or in novel form?
  5. This collection came out in 2016 with popular YA authors from that period making up the story set. If they were going to do another collection like this with present day popular Young Adult authors, who do you think would be part of that collection?

Reader’s Advisory

“Summer Days and Summer Nights” is included on the Goodreads lists “Summer Themed YA”, and “YA Anthologies”.

Next Book Club Pick: “Attachments” by Rainbow Rowell

Serena’s Review: “Serpent Sea”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Serpent Sea” by Maiya Ibrahim

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, September 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Imani is a magic-wielding warrior sworn to protect her land from the monsters that roam the desert. But an even worse enemy now threatens the Sahir. As the powerful Harrowlanders march south with their greatest weapon—spice magic—Imani knows it’s only a matter of time before their invasion of her land begins . . . and it will be a losing battle for her people.

But Imani also knows that one way to fight magic is with monsters. If she can restore Qayn’s stolen powers, together they can summon a supernatural army to defend the Sahir from the Harrowlanders. Forming an alliance with a djinni king is risky, but Imani will do anything to save her people, even embarking on a dangerous quest beyond the sands to find the magical jewels of Qayn’s lost crown.

As Imani journeys far from home, she will discover monsters that warriors have only heard about in myths . . . monsters that can strike at any moment. Meanwhile, her rival, Taha, has been captured and is on a dangerous mission of his own.

One wrong move could cost them their lives—and everyone they love. But they may find that there is more than meets the eye crossing the Serpent Sea . . . and betrayal cuts deeper than any dagger.

Review: We’re back with another one of those strange reviews where I’m covering a sequel to a book that I read before but didn’t write about here on the blog. But the situation was the same: received an ARC copy from the publisher and enjoyed the first book well enough to want to give the sequel a shot! And here we are! The short and sweet for “The Spice Road” was that I enjoyed it overall, though it did fall into a few of the predictable pitfalls of YA fantasy (a bit too much “telling” vs. “showing” as far as the heroine’s abilities, mostly). Let’s dive into this one!

There was a lot to like about this sequel! For one thing, this is one of those rare circumstances where an additional POV helped the book rather than hurt it (I know I’m in the minority with this general opinion on POVs but I stand by it!). Here, since our main character, Imani, was a bit of a struggle point for me with the first book (we were told she was very badass but got to see very little of this in action), the book was better served by adding an additional POV character. Now with two character arcs to follow, it felt like the reading experience was more balanced and drew attention away from any of the weaker moments in the telling vs. showing metric (which was still a bit of a problem here, unfortunately).

I also really liked the expansion of the world. The first book had a very intriguing world full of monsters, magic, and the many challenges of the Swallowing Sands. But here, in a bit to save their land from an invading force, the characters had to travel out into the wider sea. As such, the story benefitted from an increased feeling of adventure and action as our party set out across the titular Serpent Sea and into foreign lands. The landscape and world-building throughout remained solid and one of the primary points of interest for this series as a whole. Where the author has struggled with some characterization, she excelled in fantasy creation.

The pacing was a bit off at times, falling into the typical mid-book slump that so many stories suffer through. However, again, the interesting world-building and magical creatures did a lot to help carry it through these weaker moments in plot. I also enjoyed the exploration of themes such as colonialism and prejudice. The book didn’t have a ton of new insight to offer in these areas, following a fairly tried and true path taken by many YA fantasy books before it, but it also didn’t shy away from the more brutal aspects of these topics. Particularly, the author wasn’t afraid of allowing her characters to be flawed individuals who still have much to learn.

Overall, this was a good sequel to the first book. While I didn’t review/rate “The Spice Road,” I feel like I would have given it an 8 on our scale. And so, too, that’s where this one falls. It’s not without some flaws with pacing and characterization, but it was still a fun ride full of exciting fantasy elements. Fans of the first book are sure to enjoy this one!

Rating 8: The adventure continues, and with the expansion of the world and the adventures it offers, this one is sure to please fans of the first book!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Serpent Sea” can be found on this Goodreads list: Arabian, Egyptian, and Indian Fantasy.

Kate’s Review: “Practical Rules for Cursed Witches”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Practical Rules for Cursed Witches” by Kayla Cottingham

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, August 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher at ALAAC24.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Magic is in Delilah Bea’s blood. Her absentee father is the world’s most famous cursebreaker, while all the women in her family are fated to never find true love. So when Delilah graduates her magical training and must complete her Calling, she has the perfect task in mind—to break the Bea family curse.

But Delilah’s Calling is hijacked by Kieran Pelumbra, a member of the wealthiest and most powerful family in the country, and breaking his curse suddenly becomes her official assignment. Every generation, a pair of Pelumbra twins are doomed, with one twin draining the other of their life and magic. Each day, Kieran grows weaker while Briar gets closer to…something monstrous.

As Delilah and the twins set out on their quest, they quickly realize that breaking the Pelumbra curse isn’t going to be simple. For one, the Pelumbra family doesn’t actually want their curse broken—and they’ve sent hunters after them to ensure they fail. Secondly…it’s Briar. There’s just something about her that gets under Delilah’s skin and makes her want to kiss the perpetually grumpy look off her face. But with time running out for the twins and Delilah’s own curse getting in the way, they may not stand a chance of finding their Happily Ever After.

Review: Thank you to Delacorte and Penguin Random House for giving me an ARC at ALAAC24!

One of the books that I was very much on the hunt for at ALAAC24 (there were many, mind you) was the newest novel from Kayla Cottingham. I really enjoyed their previous two YA books, which were both horror stories with some Sapphic romance themes, and I found them both to be engaging and well done. When I heard that their next book, “Practical Rules for Cursed Witches”, was going to be witch centered I was very excited, for obvious reasons to those who know me. What I didn’t expect was that it was going to be a departure from the horror genre completely, and instead would be a cozy fantasy romance. It didn’t make me less excited, but it did make me wonder if my expectations were going to be a bit dashed. And the answer to that is ‘yes’. But not in a bad way!

The first thing that stood out for me is that even though I don’t usually gravitate towards fantasy, the coziness of this one really worked for me. It’s not too shocking given that I have liked other cozy fantasies as of late like “Legends and Lattes”, and much like that one this book just felt really comforting and filled with a certain whimsy. Our protagonist is Delilah, a young witch who wants to make her Calling (a final trial to fully come into her powers) about breaking her family curse (in which the women in her family are doomed to be forgotten by their romantic partners), but has it hijacked by Kieran Pelumbra, who has his own family curse he wants rid of. Delilah is the daughter of a well known Cursebreaker (though she never met him), and Kieran wants her to break the curse that is siphoning his powers to his estranged twin Briar. I’m already into it in terms of the basic groundwork, and Cottingham easily builds this magical world and all of its systems, making all of it easy to f0llow and easy to invest in. The magical society is well established and I really enjoyed all of the witchy moments in this book.

I also really liked the ‘found family’ aspects of this story, as well as the way that Cottingham writes the romance between Delilah and Briar. It checks a lot of boxes for my romance preferences, as I really liked the antagonism between the two at the start and how they slowly start to understand each other because it makes for a very satisfying pay off. Cottingham’s biggest strength in their works is how well they piece together characters and relationships, and I so loved seeing this group of friends come together to try and save Kieran and Briar from their family curse, and finding connections with each other along the way. These kinds of themes are the things that really make fantasies work for me, and this one is SO sweet and so charming. It strikes me as the kind of book you would want to read in the Fall when you are trying to find some of the homier and cozier aspects of the season, and I’ve said ‘cozy’ so many times because this is just the epitome of that for me. And while it’s true that this being a fantasy story means that it does have personal drawbacks for me as a reader, I know so many people who love the genre who would probably love this book. I’m thoroughly impressed that Cottingham jumped so easily from horror to this story.

“Practical Rules for Cursed Witches” is a sweet novel that showcases Kayla Cottingham’s talents as an author beyond their usual genres (or at least the genres I’m used to). I love being surprised by a book and this one really achieved that.

Rating 7: A charming cozy fantasy romance from a YA author I really enjoy, “Practical Rules for Cursed Witches” is the perfect read if you want a cozy fall book!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Practical Rules for Cursed Witches” is included on the Goodreads lists “Sapphic Fiction 2024”, and “August 2024 Romantasy Releases”.

Serena’s Review: “Ghostsmith”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Ghostsmith” by Nicki Pau Preto

Publishing Info: Margaret K. McElderry Books, August 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: In this action-packed finale to the House of the Dead Duology, Wren and her friends put everything they know to the test as they battle the living and the undead to save their world.

Wren is still reeling from the revelation that the mother she thought was dead is actually the Corpse Queen, a ghostsmith with the terrifying power to control the undead. It was Wren’s own mother who created the iron revenants—an army of near unbeatable undead soldiers. When the iron revenants attack, no one in the Dominions will have the strength to stand in their way.

Now Wren, Leo, and Julian find themselves once more in the Breach, this time on the run from Wren’s father, who is determined to secure more power for himself and the House of Bone. The three are desperate to stop the upcoming war, but working together is easier said than done with Julian still furious about Wren double-crossing him. And to make matters worse, Wren is plagued by powerful new abilities that force her to reassess everything she knows about being a bonesmith.

When Wren’s long-lost twin brother shows up and vows to help her destroy the well of magic that feeds the iron revenants, she must decide if trusting him is worth potentially playing right into their mother’s hands.

After all, the dead might be dangerous, but it’s the living who can betray you.

Previously Reviewed: “Bonesmith”

Review: I remember picking up “Bonesmith” last summer with some trepidation. I was mostly reading it because it was an upcoming selection in a book box I subscribe to and wanted to decide whether or not to skip it, as I’d read a book by this author before and not been overly impressed. Well, more fool me, I absolutely loved the first entry in this duology! It had a unique fantasy world, a badass leading character, and a well-paced enemies-to-lovers romance. It also ended on not necessarily a cliffhanger, per see, but with a few major reveals and betrayals shaking things up. So, let’s find out how well the story was wrapped up here in the second book!

For the most part, I think this was an incredibly successful conclusion to the story. I had a few niggling qualms here or there, but, overall, the story came together nicely. While the first book did a lot of the heavy lifting with regards to introducing this world and its magic, with the (re)introduction of ghost smiths and ghost magic in the latter half of that story, this book still had a lot of new territory to cover. In particular, I was impressed by how carefully many of the reveals were used throughout the book. As the plot progresses, little bits of lore are dropped in here and there, steadily fleshing out the history and culture of the lost ghost smiths until, by the end, the climax revolves fully around this history and the uses of this style of magic. For the large amount of new information that was necessary to build this ending, I was impressed by how organically this knowledge was fed to the reader. There were no clunky info-dumping sections or dialogue that was obviously just there as exposition. It was very skillfully done.

I also enjoyed the continuation of the darker tone of this duology. There is humor to be found in Wren’s dialogue and inner commentary, but much of the plot is quite serious and dealing with fairly gruesome magic. In this book, this was balanced out by an increased depth of emotion found in the relationships on the page. Not only is there the romance between Wren and Julian, challenged by the betrayals and reveals from the previous book, but the story also tackles many different familial ties as well. Wren’s entire family history is one big knot of tragedy and abuse, but by the middle point of this story, it almost feels like she got the easy side of things! Instead, her newly found brother’s past is littered with even more tragedy and disfunction than Wren herself endured. While Wren’s life was ruled by a distant father figure, her brother has dealt with the abuse found at the hands of a manipulative and selfish mother. We also see their sibling bond explored as the story progresses, adding an interesting new dynamic to Wren’s approach to the problems before her.

I continued to love Wren as a main character, and her growth in this book felt natural and interesting. Her arc was one of coming to turns with her own magic, as well as with the family history that she is only know beginning to understand. However, throughout it all, she maintained her snappy attitude and “barge right through it” mentality to problem solving.

That said, my main point of struggle came down to the other character perspectives, specifically Leo’s and, new to this book, Inara’s. Now, there was nothing actually wrong with either of these character’s stories. And, in fact, I’d say that I really enjoyed Inara as a new voice in the book. But it did feel as if both characters’ stories were simply there to provide a window into action scenes that were taking place in different parts of the world and didn’t serve any actual character purpose on their own. Leo, especially, could have been almost lifted from this entire book with no one the wiser.

I also felt that we had too little time spent between Wren and Julian. On one hand, I understand this, as this book’s driving relationship was much more focused on Wren and her brother. And that story was fantastic! That said, I still felt as if there were only a brief few scenes where these two really even interacted. It was great stuff when they did, but I still wanted more. Perhaps a better balance between some of Leo’s more unnecessary chapters and these scenes between Wren and Julian would have helped round out the story better.

That said, I found this book to be an epic conclusion to the duology! The climax of the story, in particular, was action-packed and thrilling. The story may have suffered a bit from “Return of the King”-style multiple endings by the very finish, but, as I still wanted all of those scenes, I’m not sure what I would have done differently there. If you enjoyed the first book, you can rest assured that the conclusion is well-earned and satisfying!

Rating 8: Bone-chilling at times and full of heart at others, this duology has it all!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Ghostsmith” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2024

Book Club Review: “Superman Smashes the Klan”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. This June we celebrated our 10 year anniversary of book club. So in celebration of that milestone, we are re-visiting authors we read way back in those first few years of our book club. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “Superman Smashes the Klan” by Gene Luen Yang & Gurihiru (Ill.)

Publishing Info: DC Zoom, May 2020

Where Did We Get This Book: Kate owns it; Serena got it from the library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Repeat Author: Gene Luen Yang

Book Description: The year is 1946, and the Lee family has moved from Chinatown to Downtown Metropolis. While Dr. Lee is eager to begin his new position at the Metropolis Health Department, his two kids, Roberta and Tommy, are more excited about being closer to the famous superhero Superman!

Tommy adjusts quickly to the fast pace of their new neighborhood, befriending Jimmy Olsen and joining the club baseball team, while his younger sister Roberta feels out of place when she fails to fit in with the neighborhood kids. She’s awkward, quiet, and self-conscious of how she looks different from the kids around her, so she sticks to watching people instead of talking to them.

While the Lees try to adjust to their new lives, an evil is stirring in Metropolis: the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan targets the Lee family, beginning a string of terrorist attacks. They kidnap Tommy, attack the Daily Planet, and even threaten the local YMCA. But with the help of Roberta’s keen skills of observation, Superman is able to fight the Klan’s terror, while exposing those in power who support them–and Roberta and Superman learn to embrace their own unique features that set them apart.

Kate’s Thoughts

This isn’t the first time I’ve read this book, as I’m sure some of you will remember that I reviewed it a couple years ago (and it even ended up on my Best Of list that year). But I knew that when I was going to select an author to revisit I was going to to Gene Luen Yang, and “Superman Smashes the Klan” just seemed like the correct choice. And my opinion hasn’t changed too much since I first read it. I still really love this graphic novel.

Yang takes a very heavy (but still all too relevant) story about racism and prejudice in America, f0llowing the Lees, a Chinese American who have just moved to a predominantly white neighborhood in Metropolis after living in Chinatown, in the 1940s. As they all have their own strategies (and struggles) in adjusting, it doesn’t help that the Klan of the Fiery Cross (a clear analog to the KKK) has started targeting them. Meanwhile, Superman befriends the Lees, and his still coming to terms with his own identity, as an alien who has tried to pass as human when he is Clark Kent, and who is revered in his Superman identity, though he knows that people could shift on him at the drop of a hat. I loved the comparing and contrasting of the Lees and Superman and their inner conflicts about how to assimilate and how to be ‘ideal’ without being threatening. Yang actually took a previous story from the Superman radio show and expanded it in this story, and he makes it so easily accessible to his target audience, making it very digestable and very relatable and readable. And as I said, the themes in this book of racism and bigotry and Othering are still far too relevant, which makes it all the more necessary reading for kids, and packaged so well with such a fantastic interpretation of a beloved comic character who always symbolizes the very best of us.

“Superman Smashes the Klan” is still a fantastic read. I enjoyed it just as much this time as the first time, and it fostered from great conversations in our book club.

Serena’s Thoughts:

Unlike Kate, I hadn’t read this one before. But like Kate, I am a massive Superman fan, so was excited to check it out! And I can definitely see what all the fuss was about! This was an excellent graphic novel in pretty much every way.

The story manages to take on some very heavy themes (pretty easy to guess which based on the title alone) but does so in a manner that is both approachable to kids and useful to adults. Even more impressive, for covering some difficult topics, the reading experience is still an expression of joy and hope. I think this is incredibly important for any Superman story and was pleased to see how well the overall tone of Superman was captured. This probably shouldn’t be a surprise as I know that the author has written other Superman stories as well.

I particularly enjoyed the exploration of the immigrant experience and how Superman’s own alien origins played into this. As most Superman fans know, the character was originally presented without the ability to fly, only the ability to “jump over tall buildings.” Here, that idea is taken on and presented as Superman’s concerns of expressing his full abilities due to an incident when he was younger in which the people of Smallville reacted with fear to the full range of his “otherness.” It was such an interesting way of tackling not only an interesting fact about the character but of the many challenges of the immigrant experience.

I also very much appreciated the historical aspects of the story, especially author’s note at the end that went into more details about the origins of the story itself. This is a great read for any Superman fan and well worth a read!

Kate’s Rating 9: Still a great read and still all too relevant, “Superman Smashes the Klan” is a fantastic piece of historical fiction and a wonderful look at the immigrant experience in the face of prejudice, whether you are from Earth or Krypton.

Serena’s Rating 8: Tackling tough topics while maintaining the sense of hope in humankind that is so crucial to the Superman mythos.

Book Club Questions

  1. What did you think of the story of the Lee Family and how it brings together a story of culture, assimilation, racism, and identity?
  2. Were you familiar with some of the timelines described in this book in regards to the KKK in this country’s history? Did any of these revelations surprise you?
  3. What were your thoughts on the comparison and contrast between Superman’s experience as an Other and that of the Lee family?
  4. Did you enjoy how Yang incorporated Superman’s original leaping powers into this story, as well as other powers that evolved over time?
  5. What were your thoughts on the reveal of the identity behind the Grand Mogul? What do you think Yang was trying to say with that twist?
  6. Let’s talk about the different kinds of racism and bigotry in this book, from out and out Klansmen to more ‘acceptable’ and covert forms of racism (i.e. Chuck’s mom, even Mr. Lee’s prejudice against Black people). Thoughts on that?
  7. Who would you recommend this book to? How would you use it as a connector to today’s social issues?

Reader’s Advisory

“Superman Smashes the Klan” is included on the Goodreads lists “Superheroes, Comics, and Social Justice”, and “Best of Superman”.

Next Book Club Pick: “Summer Days and Summer Nights” by Stephanie Perkins (Ed.)

Serena’s Review: “Down Comes the Night”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Down Comes the Night” by Allison Saft

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, October 2021

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: He saw the darkness in her magic. She saw the magic in his darkness.

Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend–the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.

The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.

With sinister forces at work, Wren and Hal realize they’ll have to join together if they have any hope of saving their kingdoms. But as Wren circles closer to the nefarious truth behind Hal’s illness, they realize they have no escape from the monsters within the mansion. All they have is each other, and a startling desire that could be their downfall.

Review: This is one of those funny books that made its way up my TBR list in a unique way. In that, I’ve now read and very much enjoyed two different books by Saft in the past, and then the other day while I was going through my backlog of NetGalley requests to find a new read, low and behold, there was a (several years old) book I’d requested from the very same author! It’s also clear that this might not be that unique of a situation, as the publisher has now re-released this book with this updated cover. Funny how that goes, when an author releases one or more books before they finally strike upon one that opens readers’ eyes to their potential, and then bam! That back catalog of book suddenly seems well worth a second look! A very similar thing happened with Syvia Moreno Garcia after she published “Mexican Gothic.” Of course, I was a fan before it was cool! 😉 Anyways, on to the review for this book.

I really enjoyed this one! Of course, it had a lot of things I like going for it from the start: a sympathetic leading lady, strong female friendships, creepy gothic vibes, and a lovely slow-burn romance. Let’s start with the main character! I really appreciated the overall arc that Wren travels over the course of the book. In the start, we see her struggling against the judgements and expectations of those around her, people she loves and respects, all of whom are telling her that her sympathy and emotional decision making are weaknesses that must be suppressed. As the story continues, we see Wren push back against this, slowly beginning to reclaim the power of her own sensitivities and instinctual kindness. But it’s not a straightforward journey, and I appreciated the “two steps forward, one step backward” nature of her story. It’s not an easy thing to throw off the expectations of those you admire and to instead choose to follow your own path, and we see Wren struggle more than once to follow through on what she knows to be right, in her heart.

While it took a bit to get there, I loved the time we spent in the gothic-inspire manor. It had all of the slow-build dread and lingering horror that one looks for in a haunted house. Saft’s lyrical style of writing shone particularly strongly in these depictions, and there were scenes and settings here that truly gave me the shivers. And, of course, on top of that we have enigmatic lord of the house, with all of his secrets to be slowly revealed. I did feel like some of these secrets and mysteries were perhaps a bit easy to guess, but it’s one of those cases where the conventions of this sort of story betray it a bit, as far as these reveals go. Even if the reader has their suspicions, the experience of the gothic story makes up for some of the predictability.

I also really enjoyed the relationships in this book. Of course, the love story is the primary focus, and this was as sweet and lovely as you could wish for. There were even a few bumps in the road that I hadn’t fully anticipated which helped to add a greater level of depth to a relationship that could have become a bit too straight-forward. However, the more complex relationships came in the form of Wren’s best friend (and first love interest) and the Queen, Wren’s aunt. Through these female relationships, the book explores the challenges of close relationships, the ways in which those we care about can hurt us and misunderstand us more than anyone else. And, of course, likewise. The Queen, in particular, was an interesting character, because for much of the story, she’s almost cartoonishly horrible to Wren. So I was pleased to see a greater level of depth brought to her later in the book.

I will say, however, that now having read three books by this author, it does seem to me that she struggles with pacing towards the end of books. Like “A Fragile Enchantment,” the final third of this book is a roller-coaster ride of building conflict, a seeming resolution, only to lead directly into another conflict. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what the problem is, but there’s something off with the pacing and the reader’s ability to feel like the story is building to a true climax. Instead, you keep getting these mini climactic moments, not knowing which is meant to be the true one. It’s too bad, because the first parts of this book (and the others from Saft where I’ve struggled with a similar problem) are well-paced. It’s specifically an issue with the endings.

That said, I did enjoy how it all wrapped up, and the overall experience was good. Fans of this author, or those looking for a “cozy/gothic” fantasy story should definitely give this one a go!

Rating 8: Saft continues to impress with her incredible female leads and her swoon-worthy romances!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Down Comes the Night” isn’t on many Goodreads lists, but it is on Books with “Night” in the title.

Kate’s Review: “Crumbs”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Crumbs” by Danie Stirling

Publishing Info: Clarion Books, July 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Falling in love just got sweeter in this charming, romantic YA graphic novel from WEBTOON, the #1 digital comic platform. Ray, a young seer struggling with her powers, discovers first love and friendship in her town’s magic bakery.

In a very special town, there’s an even more unusual bakery with a selection of baked treats hand-crafted to help your dreams come true. For Ray, a quiet young woman with special powers of her own, the order is always the same: a hot tea with a delicious side of romance.

When Ray meets Laurie, the kind barista who aspires to be a professional musician, she gets a real taste of love for the first time. But even with a spark of magic, romance isn’t so simple. Both Ray and Laurie are chasing their own dreams and even when Ray starts to see the future, she can’t predict her fate with Laurie.

Based on the beloved webcomic from WEBTOON, this sweet coming-of-age story of friendship and first love comes to life in graphic novel format with gorgeous illustrations and exclusive content.

Review: I had seen “Crumbs” by Danie Stirling here and there on my various book related social media accounts, mostly Goodreads. The cover kept showing up and I had to look into it because it was, admittedly, super cute, and by the time I did check it out I was pretty convinced that I should read it. What’s not to like, after all? I like graphic novels, the magical elements sounded cute and serene, and I like a nice feel good romance. And besides, I feel like I’m suffering from massive existential dread in my day to day life, so something fluffy and sweet could be welcome. So I checked it out from the library and gave it a go. To mixed results.

I will say that this book is admittedly very sweet and cozy. I do like that there seems to be a sudden rise in more cozy fantasy novels, with titles like “Legends and Lattes” and “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” being pretty well liked by audiences, as sometimes you just need a charming and sweet story and you want it to have fantasy elements to boot. I did find “Crumbs” to be a very easy going read, and I liked the light fantasy tidbits like the magical bakery, the phones with little spirits acting as Siris, and even the hinted at broader magical government system and how even THAT can be a bit of a can of worms. I would absolutely LOVE to spend time at Marigold’s bakery, eating cakes and drinking coffees with various spells and charms cast upon them to help the consumer with things like self confidence and romance (but not in a boundary breaking or violating way). I also really liked that our protagonist Ray is a Seer, but not in the usual sense, in that she can only see things that are happening in the present and are existing in the now. So while she can’t, say, predict a giant storm that is going to be coming in a week’s time, she can see that at this moment there is a rainstorm happening miles away. Usually we think of seers in fantasy as being strictly dabbling in the future, so having it be in the now is SO interesting to me. This of course grows and shifts as Ray hones her powers during her time working for the Grand Council, which helps keep society in place and acts as governing body of sorts, and I enjoyed the ins and outs of it.

But I think that there is a clear flip side to this, and that is the fact that it’s almost TOO cozy and twee when it comes to the romance arc between Ray and her boyfriend Laurie. It starts cute and sweet enough, as Laurie is the barista at her aunt Marigold’s bakery and Ray is a regular customer, going there once a week for tea and a romance pastry, and seeing them tentatively begin a relationship was tender and felt pretty realistic in a number of ways. But I think that what was less interesting to me was that their conflicts, while pretty realistic as well, just didn’t feel very high stakes to me, and therefore felt kind of boring. I don’t need there to be a huge melodramatic problem that leans towards full on dysfunction or toxicity. But at the same time, I really don’t find myself super invested when the problems are about mild trust issues (that we don’t REALLY explore beyond one moment) and someone who is too much of a people pleaser. I can understand that there are people who aren’t comfortable with any kind of high stakes unhealthiness being portrayed in a relationship, but man, I do kind of want a little more conflict in my fiction, because for me fiction is about being able to explore those things in a safe way BECAUSE it is fiction. I know that this is personal preference, and that there are almost certainly people out here who will really love this aspect of the book. But it didn’t gel with me.

Finally, I really liked the artwork. It fits the tone of the story, and I always love seeing how food is drawn in graphic novels because it’s fun to see how tantalizing it can be.

(source: Clarion Books)

“Crumbs” didn’t work for me an all levels, but I definitely know there are people who like cozy fantasy and gentle stories about romance and relationships that will enjoy it.

Rating 5: It’s a sweet and gentle romance with some hints of magical creativity, but “Crumbs” didn’t invest me too much in the central characters and their maneuvering through a relationship.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Crumbs” is included on the Goodreads lists “Cozy Fantasy Romance Reads”, and “Food Themed Romance Comics”.

Serena’s Review: “Castle of the Cursed”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Castle of the Cursed” by Romina Garber

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, July 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor’s guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.

Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents’ deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he’s been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.

As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra’s secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she’s chasing has already found her . . . and they’re closer than she ever realized.

Review: One of my favorite subgenres recently has been gothic fantasy. There have simply been so many good ones of late that I almost have gotten to the point where I just expect them all to be amazing, simply by definition. I was also intrigued by the promise of a murder (?) mystery regarding the loss of Estela’s parents. And while I knew that a romance would be involved, and often I like a good romantic subplot, unfortunately the loves story brought it all down for me.

But let’s start with some positives! Of the three primary aspects of the story (gothic, mystery, romance) the gothic portion of the story fares the best. Once Estela gets to the estate, the author’s style of writing seemed to come more to life, effectively building tension and creating an atmosphere of barely-concealed horror. Second to the gothic aspects, the mystery was also compelling, especially in the beginning of the book when Estela is first beginning to realize that there is more going on here than a random, tragic accident. Once certain elements were introduced, I did feel like the big twist was a bit predictable, but on its own, I think this was a creative turn to the story. I wasn’t expecting the book to go quite so far into the fantastical as this one went, and for the most part, much of this was successful.

Unfortunately, the romance really killed it for me. A large part of this comes down to the fact that much of the story takes place over a very compressed number of days. I always struggle with love stories that develop this quickly; I can’t quite turn of my own skepticism over it all. That’s not to say, however, that a fast love story never works, but I do think it takes a very solid hand on characterization overall to pull it off. And here, neither Estela nor Sebastian were up to it. Both felt very flat, especially in their interactions with one another. Estela’s original arc, her struggles with the guilt of surviving the deaths of her parents, had a lot of potential. But the minute the love story started up, she seemed to lose much of this inner character work. And, again, this all happens rapidly, so it was difficult to believe in the sincerity of these emotions.

I also don’t want to get into spoilers with regards to some of the major twists in the end. But, essentially, I felt like the explanation for the resolution to the final conflict to be fairly ridiculous. It pretty much required the reader to disregard everything we’d seen from Estela up to this point and pretend that she was a very different character than she was. One of the things that I appreciated initially with this character was the struggles that she continued suffer through in the beginning of the story. But as the story went on, because the character became so consumed by the romance, we didn’t see the necessary growth to justify the things we were being told about her in the end. In fact, only a few pages before the fact, the character behaves in a manner that directly contradicts what we are later told is a crucial trait she contains!

Overall, I was a bit disappointed by this read. After a promising start, the story quickly began to fall flat and the characters were unable to hold my interest. The writing was strong enough and particularly shone with regards to the gothic/horror elements of the story. But the romance was uninspiring and dull, and as that ended up taking up a large chunk of the story, that killed it for me a bit. That said, romance is an incredibly subjective element of storytelling, so other readers may enjoy this one more than me!

Rating 7: While the gothic/horror elements were interesting, the characters and the love story failed to capture my imagination.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Castle of the Cursed” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Gothic and Ladies of Horror and Dark Fiction Writing.