Book Review: Kingdom of Ash and Briars (The Nissera Chronicles #1) by Hannah West

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy Retelling
Length: 352 pages
Author: Hannah West
Publisher: Holiday House
Release Date: September 15th, 2016
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Bristal, an orphaned kitchen maid, lands in a gritty fairy tale gone wrong when she discovers she is an elicromancer with a knack for shape-shifting. An ancient breed of immortal magic beings, elicromancers have been winnowed down to merely two – now three – after centuries of bloody conflict in the realm. Their gifts are fraught with responsibility, and sixteen-year-old Bristal is torn between two paths. Should she vow to seek the good of the world, to protect and serve mortals? Or should she follow the strength of her power, even if it leads to unknown terrors? She draws on her ability to disguise herself as a man to infiltrate a prince’s band of soldiers, and masquerades as a fairy godmother to shield a cursed princess, but time is running out. As an army of dark creatures grows closer, Bristal faces a supernatural war. To save the kingdoms, Bristal must find the courage to show her true form.

Building on homages to Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jane Austen’s Emma and the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, Hannah West makes a spectacular debut. 

TOO MANY FAIRYTALES.

Oh I gave this a try. And oh, I feel disappointed.

I think this book and I got off on the wrong foot. I was thrown into a scene knowing absolutely nothing, and nobody was telling me anything. We went from there to full on info-dumping for chapters about Bristal’s new magical powers, her duty to the world, and all of these countries kings/queens/offspring. I was very confused.

Once I caught a better grasp, things did take a turn for the better. The story settled in and I could see all of the fairy tales being woven in. I thought maybe too many were shoved into the story to help carry it along, but it was fun seeing the take on each of them.

I wish the romance had more build-up and that the story was more about Bristal. Yes, she was our main character narration, but her entire focus was on other people. I wanted more for her and wished she wasn’t so sidelined in her own tale.

There’s a lot of action and things really do start happening in the second half. Even if I was at the skimming point of reading this book, I know it might be a hit for others (which is why I was a little more lenient on my rating).

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy + retellings
  • Language: very little, light
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: animal attacks, magic, physical altercations, swords/arrows; not overly bloody/gory

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ARC Book Review: Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult fantasy romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Allison Saft
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: March 2nd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A gorgeously gothic, deeply romantic YA debut fantasy about two enemies trapped inside a crumbling mansion, with no escape from the monsters within.

Honor your oath, destroy your country.

Wren Southerland is the most talented healer in the Queen’s Guard, but her reckless actions have repeatedly put her on thin ice with her superiors. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate to cure his servant from a mysterious disease, she seizes the chance to prove herself.

When she arrives at Colwick Hall, Wren realizes that nothing is what it seems. Particularly when she discovers her patient is actually Hal Cavendish, the sworn enemy of her kingdom.

As the snowy mountains make it impossible to leave the estate, Wren and Hal grow closer as they uncover a sinister plot that could destroy everything they hold dear. But choosing love could doom both their kingdoms.

Allison Saft’s Down Comes the Night is a snow-drenched, gothic, romantic fantasy that keeps you racing through the pages long into the night.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own!

GREAT ATMOSPHERE.

I’m grateful I got an ARC for this one, because reading it in September with all of the fall, spooky, and Gothic vibes was the perfect combination. The atmosphere of Down Comes the Night was written beautifully.

I loved Wren as a main character. She was emotional, brave, intelligent, and devoted. I really loved her compassion for others and the fact she was emotional. It’s okay to feel things and to show those feelings and I loved knowing and seeing that in a character.

Her relationship with both Una and Hal worked amazingly in this standalone. It was somehow a love triangle, but not. Just a movement and progression of Wren’s relationships as the story grew. I thought the way it worked out with Una fit well, and appreciated that it wasn’t some blown out of proportion break-up, but an acknowledgement of where they both were in their lives. And moving with Hal felt right for the now, and he was just SO PRECIOUS. I love a brooding guy with a soft heart.

There’s a LOT of medical terminology used. More so than I’ve seen in any book I’ve read in a good long while. I do have a background in this kind of medical jargon so I didn’t mind it and kind of enjoyed this different addition to a young adult fantasy book. Wren works as a healer and whenever she explains something she’s trying to do, it’s in a more medical based format.

Our villain is a little roll your eyes worthy, but they have a flair all their own that was very creepy and fit into this entire setting well. I wish the story wasn’t confined to essentially one location, but there was enough overall to influence the narrative. Adored the ending and there’s plenty of highlight worthy quotes in here about choosing peace. Definitely a must read!

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy + romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses / make-outs; a very little detailed fade to black scene
  • Violence: bloody/gory; murder, physical altercations, poisonings, magic attacks

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: February 2021

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Oh hi, did I miss posting this for January?

YEP.

Life was ultra busy.

But February’s reading month was ultra busy too.

I read many books, a lot of graphic novels, and enjoyed a good majority of them!

Favorites this month: An Encho in the Bone, Catana Comics, Dating Makes Perfect, All the Tides of Fate, ACOSF, Nimona, Gilded Serpent

Least favorites this month: The Promise Prince, Stay Sweet, Heart’s Blood and Cake

  • The Promised Prince by Kortney Keisel – (☆☆☆)
  • These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights #1) by Chloe Gong – (☆☆☆☆)
  • An Echo in the Bone (Outlander #7) by Diana Gabaldon – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] Book Love by Debbie Tung – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] Happily Ever After by Debbie Tung – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] A Thief Among the Trees by Sabaa Tahir – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Beat Match (Showmen #3) by Kelly Siskind – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Dating Makes Perfect by Pintip Dunn – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] The Steel Prince (Shades of Magic Graphic Novels #1) by V.E. Schwab – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [ARC] The Stolen Kingdom by Jillian Boehme – (☆☆☆)
  • Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian – (☆☆)
  • All The Tides of Fate (All the Stars and Teeth #2) by Adalyn Grace – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] Night of Knives (Shades of Magic Graphic Novels #2) by V.E. Schwab – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] Little Moments of Love by Catana Chetwynd – (☆☆☆☆)
  • I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest – (☆☆☆☆)
  • The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] Rebel Army (Shades of Magic Graphic Novels #3) by V.E. Schwab – (☆☆☆)
  • [Novella] The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Simply Starstruck by Aspen Hadley – (☆☆☆)
  • Exile (The Extinction Trials #2) by S.M. Wilson – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Meet Your Baker (A Bakeshop Mystery #1) by Ellie Alexander – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Shipped by Angie Hockman – (☆☆☆ 1/2)
  • Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier – (☆☆☆)
  • A Court of Silver Flames (ACOTAR #4) by Sarah J. Maas – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • A Batter of Life and Death (A Bakeshop Mystery #2) by Ellie Alexander – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] Snug by Catana Chetwynd – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • Cake: A Love Story (Cake #1) by J. Bengtsson – (☆☆☆)
  • Unchosen by Katharyn Blair – (☆☆☆☆)
  • When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [Graphic Novel] Nimona by Noelle Stevenson – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • The Last Eligible Bachelor (Seasons of Change #3) by Ashtyn Newbold – (☆☆☆☆)
  • Failed Future (Air Awakens: Vortex Chronicles #3) by Elise Kova – (☆☆☆☆)
  • [ARC] Gilded Serpent (Dark Shores #3) by Danielle L. Jensen – (☆☆☆☆☆)
  • The Key (London Prep #4) by Jillian Dodd – (☆☆☆)

How did your month of reading go?
Did we read any of the same books?
Lets talk in the comments!

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Book Review: Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆  
Audience: Thriller
Length: 384 pages
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Dutton Books
Release Date: June 30th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.

In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?

INDEED, IT WAS SPOOKY.

I have officially decided this is my second favorite of Sager’s (The Last Time I Lied being the first). It freaked me out, had some interesting story lines, and was overall a good spooky thriller.

The ghosts and haunted manor setting had me reading in the day time. I do NOT do haunted houses. Regardless of ridiculousness, I still found myself totally on edge. This is a slow-burn kind of haunting. It felt like a movie, slowly amping up to the climax of all the weird things going off at once.

I liked the alternating chapters between the Dad and daughter, Maggie. Though I think I leaned more towards her Dad’s more horrific tale. Which lead me to being let down by the ending. I almost wanted more ghost-y-ness (is that a word?) then having every single answer laid out. I have a confused mix of how I feel about the end. I liked how things were overall solved, but still, just something, *something* was missing for me.

What also had me out of the book from the beginning was the ease at which this entire book wouldn’t have existed if she sold the house. And I always love a character who sprints towards the danger rather than away.

Overall audience notes:

  • Thriller
  • Language: occasional
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: murder, physical altercations
  • Trigger warnings: multiple discussions a murder-suicide and of multiple children being murdered

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