Tag: fantasy books

Book Review: Savage Bred (The Royal Rose Chronicles #3) by Victoria McCombs

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 256 pages
Author: Victoria McCombs
Publisher: Enclave Publishing
Release Date: August 1st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It’s dangerous to be a pirate.

The seas have become more threatening than ever, with enemies closing in on all sides. War isn’t just brewing—it’s here, knocking on their doorsteps, threatening to devour them all. And just as she was warned, Emme might have been the one to create the chaos.

In her desperate attempt to keep the fight away, Emme hatches a plan that involves trapping the only one who can put an end to the battles. But as plans go awry, she discovers she’s not the only one scheming. Eventually she’ll have to accept that she’s no longer playing a role: She’s a pirate now. A pirate who will do what it takes to save her crew, even if it means oathbinding herself one final time.

A SIMPLE CONCLUSION.

With how short this book was I am almost leaning towards it working better if it had been a duology. I enjoyed it, but just needed more.

I do like these characters and it’s a great TRUE young adult series and that’s always a big bonus. The romance is sweet and I wish they had some more page time together as they fought their way back to each other. I am intrigued by how some of the story lines felt a little open and if there’s some kind of spin off coming?

It’s a quick audio book (7 hours) and if you’ve been enjoying the series so far I think you’ll like this conclusion too. This wasn’t initially on my radar and I am happy that I picked them up! Another solid seafaring adventure read.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, weapons violence, near death experiences

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

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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

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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

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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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