Book Review: The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

August 27, 2021January 7, 2021 GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy / Fiction
Length: 393 pages
Author: T.J. Klune
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: March 17th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

SO SWEET.

I’ve seen this book compared to a warm hug, and I truly see that analogy. This book is such a feel good read.

This cast is absolutely precious. Linus has some really relatable life sentiments and I thought it was really unique to a lot of books I’ve read that this was an older narrator. Throw him in with a group of children with unique abilities and I was smitten. I adored all of the children. Each was unique, made me smile and laugh, want to fiercely hug and protect, and cheer on that they would get the better future they deserved.

Cerulean Sea is a naturally slow read. It’s not fast paced and full of action. Instead it moves through the lives of all involved and leaves you with a vast amount of quotable moments. You could easily highlight half this book.

I loved the progression of the novel and how the story progressed with Linus. Getting to see him find happiness and love. Seeing the children get to branch out from their home. It was all so sweet!!

Overall audience notes:

Fiction / Fantasy
Language: very little
Romance: kisses

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Book Review: A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4) by Sabaa Tahir

July 26, 2021December 8, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 528 pages
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: December 1st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Prepare for the jaw-dropping finale of Sabaa Tahir’s beloved New York Times bestselling An Ember in the Ashes fantasy series, and discover: Who will survive the storm?

Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off…

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

At his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory–or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life–and love–he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save–or destroy–all that he knows.

STUNNING FINALE.

It’s time.

It’s time you read this series.

It is beautiful, raw, strikes so many chords and is nothing short of a magnificent story.

I love these characters and how real everything feels to me because of how the writing conveys their tale. The highs and lows and everything in between drag out all of the emotions and made me sit there and hug this book afterwards. This isn’t a happy-go-lucky story. A lot of bad things do happen, but I love the infused sense of hope that something is better out on the horizon. That we’ll get there.

You’ll never find yourself bored or dragging through any of these points-of-view. The high stakes action bouncing off of angsty moments had me gripping pages to know where things were going. I feel like even the side characters got some great spotlight and I was hooked on them by the ending too. While yes, totally hate how some things went down (without a doubt had me in tears), it all still somehow worked out in the end. That’s what I love. The loss of who/this/that didn’t overshadow where everything was leading.

This entire series took me on a such a journey and I have a hard time putting into words what the closing of this final chapter meant. An Ember in the Ashes will definitely go down as one of my favorite young adult fantasy series. The amount of dedication and work that clearly went into this jaw-dropping. I’m a fan for life and can’t wait to see what Tahir writes next.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy
Language: little light
Romance: kisses/make-outs; some little detailed fade out scenes (still felt appropriate for YA genre)
Violence: depictions of war, gory and bloody murders and battle scenes
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of multiple loved ones

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Book Review: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1) by Jessica Townsend

July 21, 2021December 6, 2020 GoodeyReads3 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Middle Grade Fantasy
Length: 465 pages
Author: Jessica Townsend
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: October 31st, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A breathtaking, enchanting new series by debut author Jessica Townsend, about a cursed girl who escapes death and finds herself in a magical world–but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination.

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she’s blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It’s then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city’s most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart–an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests–or she’ll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.

Perfect for fans of the Harry Potter series and Neil Gaiman, this fast-paced plot and imaginative world has a fresh new take on magic that will appeal to a new generation of readers.

OH WHAT FUN.

I haven’t read a middle-grade book in a bit and I forgot how much I enjoyed them! This was such a gem.

I flew through this (definitely a perk of a middle grade read) and was captivated by the story of Morrigan! I loved her character and demeanor. She was spunky, capable of going with the flow and was someone I wanted to cheer for during the trials for the Wondrous Society.

The rest of the cast was fantastic as well. Such a mix of different personalities and backgrounds. I look forward to watching friendships blossom and seeing how this story progresses. There’s plenty of action and the fast-paced keeps anything from getting slow. I think it’s a wonderful and appropriate read for younger audiences, but it definitely has the ability to draw in the older crowd too.

Loved this, will be continuing the series to see what happens next! I love following a longer series with a great group, a bit of mystery and a lot more of the world to explore.

Overall audience notes:

Middle grade fantasy
Language: none
Violence: some minor altercations and run-ins with ghosts and other creatures, but nothing overtly violent

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ARC Book Review: Curses by Lish McBride

July 15, 2021May 19, 2021 GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy Retelling
Length: 488 pages
Author: Lish McBride
Publisher: GP Putnam
Release Date: July 20th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling’s curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever, unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother’s choosing before her eighteenth birthday.

Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family’s cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements, unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom.

Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother’s debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match . . . but what if the best match is Tevin himself?

Thank you to PenguinTeen for an eARC. All opinions are my own!

NOT BAD.

Just not great either.

I love the cast of characters. There were many, with unique personalities and I love how they were portrayed. It’s a great group of friends that end up working together to end Merit’s curse. The villains were plenty wicked (though it became too convenient in the end) and some morally gray ones are also a fun addition.

What I didn’t love was the lack of romance. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling…shouldn’t there be more? By the time Tevin is confessing his love I realized I’m not emotionally invested in this. It was a big let down for me because I definitely had higher hopes. Over the course of a long book I thought more page time could’ve been spent developing their relationship rather than my other problem, the amount of POV’s.

Usually I love multiple points-of-view. In this case, I thought it should have stuck to the main two. It would have helped a deeper connection with the main characters. We’d flit off to some side story that could have been handled (and honestly, would have been more surprising) coming from one of the main characters [Merit or Tevin]. I didn’t need to hear about everyone else to get the whole picture.

I liked the set-up for the story and how this retelling was managed. It really did feel distinctly B&tB reminiscent. I could see many parallels that helped [& occasionally hindered] the plot. There’s some good humorous moments and some soft ones too. I wish I had felt more emotionally invested to fully enjoy this tale.

Overall audience notes: