Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab

October 4, 2024August 22, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 416 pages
Author: V.E. Schwab
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: February 24th, 2015
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab, return to the beginning of the phenomenal Shades of Magic series with A Darker Shade of Magic, now in a brand new trade paperback edition

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

WHAT A GEM.

This is a reread review.

I haven’t picked this up since 2017 and thought, why the heck not with book four on the horizon. And I actually remembered a lot?? Which is amazing and shows how much this book holds up. I think it’s an incredible series starter and that the magic system and world building is flat out COOL. I love the whole concept and set-up.

Not to mention, the CHARACTERS. Kell, Lila and Rhy are well built and I am immediately drawn in and connected to their story. I love a complicated villain like Holland and the way interactions between everyone is just spot on.

Plot wise things drag a little here and there, but I already know where the set-up is going so it was fun to revisit the beginning.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy
Language: some strong
Romance: flirting
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: slavery, attempted rape, self harm for magic, blood/gore depiction, torture, weapons violence

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: September 2024

October 1, 2024 GoodeyReads2 Comments

How did September get here???
I made it another month without having any books in the under three star (or least favorite) category and had plenty of great books to choose from!

Favorites this month:

Sunday Supper
The Key to Deceit
Heir
Words of Radiance (reread)
Guy’s Girl
Playing it Safe
It’s Always Us
The Christmas You Found Me
A Sky Full of Dragons
An Academy for Liars
An Improper Proposal
Locked in Pursuit
The Games Gods Play

Least favorites:

NONE!

[ARC] Sunday Supper by K. Sinko
The Girl with No Reflection by Keshe Chow
[ARC] Phantasma (Wicked Games #1) by Kaylie Smith
The Key To Deceit (Electra McDonnell #2) by Ashley Weaver
Little Monsters by Kara Thomas
The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas
The Champions by Kara Thomas
[ARC] Heir (Heir Duology #1) by Sabaa Tahir
All out of Love (Boys of Riverside #3) by Gracie Graham
[ARC] The Scarlet Throne (The False Goddess #1) by Amy Leow
[ARC] Of Gold and Shadows by Michelle Griep
[Reread] Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archives #2) by Brandon Sanderson
[ARC] Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood
Guy’s Girl by Emma Noyes
Playing it Safe (Electra McDonnell #3) by Ashley Weaver
[ARC] It’s Always Us (The Abandoned Brothers #3) by Stacy Williams
Loyally, Luke (Skymar #3) by Pepper Basham
[ALC] The Christmas You Found Me (Heart of the Wilderness #1) by Sarah Morgenthaler
Cole and Laila are Just Friends by Bethany Turner
A Dawn with the Wolf Knight (Married to Magic #5) by Elise Kova
[ALC] A Sky Full of Dragons (The Wand Keepers #1) by Tiffany McDaniel
[ARC] A Queen’s Game (A Queen’s Game #1) by Katharine McGee
An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
An Improper Proposal (Improper Agreements #4) by Audra Wells
The Shadow of the Gods (Bloodsworn Saga #1) by John Gwynne
Locked in Pursuit (Electra McDonnell #4) by Ashley Weaver
A Royal Promise (Royal Hearts #4) by Amanda Schimmoeller
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas
On a Flight to Sydney (Love Along the Way #1) by J.A. Forde
The Cheerleaders (The Cheerleaders #1) by Kara Thomas
One Last Thing (The Seddledowne #1) by Susan Henshaw
The Games Gods Play (The Crucible #1) by Abigail Owen
Unbearably Yours (It’s Always Been You #3) by Elodie Colliard
[ARC/ALC] The Courting of Bristol Keats (The Courting of Bristol Keats #1) by Mary E. Pearson
The Heart of the World (The Isles of the Gods #2) by Amie Kaufman
[ARC] Across the Star Kissed Sea by Arlem Hawks

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ARC Book Review: A Sky Full of Dragons (The Wand Keepers #1) by Tiffany McDaniel

September 24, 2024September 19, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: MG Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Author: Tiffany McDaniel
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: September 24th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

For younger fans of Witchlings and Eva Evergreen comes a light-hearted and whimsical middle grade fantasy about a young girl who must save her witch aunt from an uncommonly voracious hat.Where dragons take flight, through the dark of the night. Where the fire ignites, you will find the light. Aunt Cauldroneyes is always looking into cauldrons. She’s found everything from giggling moons to troll nose rings, but when she looks inside a purple cauldron one stormy night, she finds a girl with blue freckles. The old witch raises the girl and names her Spella. They live in Hungry Snout Forest in a crooked house with doors enchanted to smell like chocolate. In the attic full of floating fabric and biting buttons, Aunt Cauldroneyes teaches Spella how to make magical hats for creatures like unicorns and dragons, giants and goblins. When Spella turns eight, she receives an invitation to Dragon’s Knob, a school for wand witchery and wizardry. But on the very night Spella is set to leave, a stranger appears with a growling hat that swallows Aunt Cauldroneyes and steals her away! To rescue her aunt, Spella must go up into a sky full of dragons and to her new school. With protesters outside the gates threatening the school’s academic freedom and a deepening mystery within the walls, Spella and her new friend Tolden are thrust into the mystery of her aunt’s disappearance and a long-buried secret hidden somewhere in the school.

Thank you Tiffany McDaniel for the gifted copy and Simon Audio for the ALC.

A SWEET GEM.

I absolutely adored this book. It had all of the things I kind of look out for when reading middle grade. It felt like a book I could read to my little’s and that we could all enjoy together and I loved that vibe the most.

The world is whimsical and FULL of magical creatures. I liked the little footnotes explaining each one. It better builds the world and all of the different aspects to the plot. I loved the general theme of appreciating and taking care of nature. It’s playful and imaginative.

I am intrigued by the beginnings of some found family moments within Spella’s journey through her new school. I happened to have listened to the audiobook and thought it was fantastic too. I absolutely will be continuing this series.

Overall audience notes:

Middle Grade Fantasy
Language: none
Romance: none
Violence: low

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ARC Book Review: The Scarlet Throne (The False Goddess #1) by Amy Leow

September 10, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Author: Amy Leow
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: September 10th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A dark, heart-thumping political epic fantasy by debut author Amy Leow—full of scheming demons, morally grey heroines, talking cats, and cut-throat priests, this delicious tale of power and corruption will captivate from beginning to end.

Binsa is a “living goddess,” chosen by the gods to dispense both mercy and punishment from her place on the Scarlet Throne. But her reign hides a deadly secret. Rather than channeling the wisdom of an immortal deity, she harbors a demon.

But now her priests are growing suspicious. When a new girl, Medha, is selected to take over her position, Binsa and her demon strike a deal: To magnify his power and help her wrest control from the priests, she will sacrifice human lives. She’ll do anything not to end up back on the streets, forgotten and alone. But how much of her humanity is she willing to trade in her quest for power? Deals with demons are rarely so simple.

Thank you Orbit for the gifted ARC.

WELL. I AM INTRIGUED.

If you’re looking for a book where the FMC truly is a villain and you don’t mind if there isn’t any romance, I definitely say give this a go. Not exactly my usual but I genuinely enjoyed this book. The writing style had this ease of reading quality that kept my attention and made this book move well.

My one little niggling thought is that I wish the FMC, Binsa, had at least one good relationship. Whether that was platonic, familial, or romantic. I felt like I was missing a strong side character. There were plenty of smaller characters but nobody that STOOD OUT.

The plot had a lot of political maneuvering and devious betrayals. This does lean towards a darker side of fantasy with some of the themes and content. I liked all of the machinations and that it didn’t feel long winded.

I am 100% curious how this will flow out through a trilogy and based off the wonderful cliffhanger ending, I am absolutely going to need some answers.

Overall audience notes: