Tag: harper teen

ARC Book Review: Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: NA Fantasy Romance
Length: 432 pages
Author: Lexi Ryan
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: July 30th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lexi Ryan comes a romantic fantasy in which a human princess armed with death’s kiss and a fae shifter on the run become unlikely allies when a mission to assassinate an evil king collides with a fatal prophecy.

Princess Jasalyn has a secret. Armed with an enchanted ring that gives her death’s kiss, Jas has been sneaking away from the palace at night to assassinate her enemies.

Shape-shifter Felicity needs a miracle. Fated to kill her magical father, she’s been using her unique ability to evade a fatal prophecy.

When rumors of evil king Mordeus’s resurrection spread through the shadow court, Jasalyn decides to end him once and for all. Felicity agrees to take the form of the princess, allowing Jas to covertly hunt Mordeus—and starting Felicity on the path that could finally take her home.

While Jasalyn teams up with the charming and handsome Kendrick, Felicity sets out to get closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha. Kendrick helps Jasalyn feel something other than anger for the first time in three years, and Misha makes Felicity wish for a world where she’s free to be her true self. Soon, the girls’ missions are at risk right alongside their hearts.

The future of the human and fae realms hangs in the balance as fates intertwine. Between perilous tasks, grim secrets, and forbidden romances, Jasalyn and Felicity find that perhaps their stars are the most cursed of all.

Thank you Harper Teen for the eARC.

LOVE ME A CLIFFHANGER.

There’s something about a well executed cliffhanger that makes me all the more excited for book two. I think this delivered in that aspect. I saw one twist coming from the beginning (you will too), but the other one was this slow reveal that had me GOING. I can’t wait for the fallout.

I really enjoyed this spin off that follows Jas (and a new character). The romances had a bit of an insta vibe to them (or were lacking in general build up), yet they grew on me. I think it can be fostered even more in book two.

What I did notice was the lack of world building. This is really leaning heavy on the assumed fact you read the previous duology (These Hollow Vows). Which, since I have, was MOSTLY fine, I did stumble a bit trying to remember some of the court and politic dynamics that were created prior.

It’s still an engaging story and I enjoyed coming back to this book each time. I loved that the characters were someone I could root for that had weaknesses and strengths. There was a lot of beautifully tough moments seeing Jasalyn work through her past and facing some of those moments head on.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: one vague open door
  • Violence: moderate
  • Content Warnings: past torture and associated trauma, murder

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Book Review: Fate Breaker (Realm Breaker #3) by Victoria Aveyard

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 625 pages
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: February 27th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A dark fate descends. A shattered alliance must rise.

The Companions are torn apart and the realm hangs in the balance, at the edge of ruin. Taristan and Queen Erida rise triumphant from the battlefield, while Corayne barely escapes with her life; her Companions left behind to uncertain fates.

But not all hope was lost: Corayne managed to steal Taristan’s Spindleblade. Without it, Taristan can’t rip open any more Spindles. Without it, he can’t end the world.

Now, from every corner of the realm, the Companions race to reunite while they rally old allies and seek unexpected new ones, in one final push against darkness.

But Taristan and Erida are all but invincible. With their cruel god, What Waits, on their side, they will sacrifice anything and anyone to his hunger.

Everything has come to this. In the final clash between good and evil, a ragged alliance makes its bravest stand against a ruthless enemy . . . and the demon god who would consume the realm entire.

GREAT CONCLUSION.

This review won’t be terribly long because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but I am here to say this was much better than the Red Queen series (of which I DNF after the third book and raged when someone told me what happened in the fourth). THIS SERIES ENDS BETTER.

And for all my low romance lovers, this is a great series to pick up. There’s some, but it’s very much a sub plot and doesn’t overwhelm the big plot happenings. This had those high fantasy vibes while being a young adult aged (and appropriate) read.

I found the final moments to wrap up where things needed to be. I had some concerns about a certain pairing and thought that where the ended up made a lot of sense and felt satisfying.

Many will find these books slow, so I highly recommend the audio (I listened to all three of them) to make things move a little faster.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate-high

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Book Review: Blood Scion (Blood Scion #1) by Deborah Falaye

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Author: Deborah Falaye
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: March 8th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This is what they deserve. They wanted me to be a monster. I will be the worst monster they ever created.

Fifteen-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will—she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods.

Under the Lucis’ brutal rule, her identity means her death if her powers are discovered. But when she is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army on her fifteenth birthday, Sloane sees a new opportunity: to overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training, and destroy them from within.

Sloane rises through the ranks and gains strength but, in doing so, risks something greater: losing herself entirely, and becoming the very monster that she abhors.

Following one girl’s journey of magic, injustice, power, and revenge, this deeply felt and emotionally charged debut from Deborah Falaye, inspired by Yoruba-Nigerian mythology, is a magnetic combination of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin and Daughter of Smoke and Bone that will utterly thrill and capture readers.

ENDING SAVED IT.

Note: this book is super dark and does not hold back. Please check trigger warning and make sure you’re in the right frame of mind for it!

This was something different, without a doubt. I’m not sure my mood reader self was quite read for everything, buuut I did really enjoy this story overall.

One of the best aspects was the strong female main character, Sloane. I loved her. She had to make the hardest choice over and over again and she kept rising and pushing forward. The audiobook did a fantastic job at narration and I think this also helped bring the story to life.

So much of this plot is heavy and unforgiving. There’s complex characters and a compelling plot. I did find it at times a little slow and I occasionally had a hard time getting fully into the story. The ending though? WOW, I did not see that coming at all. It was full of twists and wildness that set up for book two.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Dark Fantasy
  • Language: light
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: very high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: racism, colorism, rape mentioned, sexual assault, self harm, child abuse, child soldiers, suicidal ideation, death of a parent, genocide, torture, executions, gun violence

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