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ARC Book Review: Legends and Liars (Echoes and Empires #2) by Morgan Rhodes

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Author: Morgan Rhodes
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: June 13th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This riveting sequel to Echoes and Empires sees Joss and Jericho team up with some of their greatest enemies—including two of the most powerful mages in the world—to bring an end to the queen’s empire of lies, from New York Times bestselling author Morgan Rhodes.

Josslyn Drake is in over her head—again. After fleeing the Queen’s palace with Prince Elian in tow, she’d hoped to finally find a way to solve both of their magical problems in one fell swoop, with the help of criminal-turned-ally Jericho Nox. But Valery, Jericho’s boss—and a notoriously powerful mage—has other plans.

It soon becomes clear that Valery can’t, or won’t, provide assistance. And with her relationship with Jericho more confusing than ever, Joss realizes that she’ll have to find her own way out of this magical mess, with or without help from those around her.

Amid high tensions, Joss sets out to learn to control the memory magic—along with her own natural powers. As the struggle between Lord Banyon and the Queen threatens the people Joss cares about, she stumbles onto hints of a monumental royal secret. Her unwanted power just might hold the answers she needs to solve all her problems—but she’ll have to work quickly, because the fate of an empire hangs in the balance.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

I AM FEELING LET DOWN.

I LOVED the first book, Echoes and Empires. Clearly that meant I went in hoping for a great conclusion and instead I feel like I got this meandering story that had lost its charm and ended too simply.

Where did the romance go?! I loved that Jericho and Joss worked together and there weren’t any undue separations. Yet, the snark and banter and tenderness that I saw in the first book was hardly here. I lost that connection with them.

I also don’t think much happened? There were a lot of little plot lines that did come together (and were wrapped up way too neatly in a bow) yet the progress to fixing the problems in the world and figuring out the magic system hardly occurred.

And the big secret that Joss took the whole book to figure out??? That was a joke. And the ease of which the ending happened had me wanting more rather than feeling satisfied.

The book is written well and I do love the main characters. The world is an interesting mix of fantasy & urban which I liked too. I’m not UPSET I read this, I was just hoping for a more comprehensive conclusion.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: a little mild
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: weapons violence, physical altercations, kidnapping, near death experiences, loss of loved ones

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Book Review: Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Author: Emily J. Taylor
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: April 5th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

For fans of Caraval and The Night Circus, this decadent and darkly enchanting YA fantasy, set against the backdrop of a Belle Époque-inspired hotel, follows seventeen-year-old Jani as she uncovers the deeply disturbing secrets of the legendary Hotel Magnifique.

All her life, Jani has dreamed of Elsewhere. Just barely scraping by with her job at a tannery, she’s resigned to a dreary life in the port town of Durc, caring for her younger sister Zosa. That is, until the Hotel Magnifique comes to town.

The hotel is legendary not only for its whimsical enchantments, but also for its ability to travel—appearing in a different destination every morning. While Jani and Zosa can’t afford the exorbitant costs of a guest’s stay, they can interview to join the staff, and are soon whisked away on the greatest adventure of their lives. But once inside, Jani quickly discovers their contracts are unbreakable and that beneath the marvelous glamour, the hotel is hiding dangerous secrets.

With the vexingly handsome doorman Bel as her only ally, Jani embarks on a mission to unravel the mystery of the magic at the heart of the hotel and free Zosa—and the other staff—from the cruelty of the ruthless maître d’hôtel. To succeed, she’ll have to risk everything she loves, but failure would mean a fate far worse than never returning home.

PRETTY GOOD.

I think I enjoyed this a lot more than I might have because I listened to it on audio (and thus, listened to it at a faster speed than I would have reading).

The magical hotel trope has swung around again, and this was a good rendition. I liked the main character and her fierce loyalty and love for her sister. There’s a good dash of mystery as the hotel’s story unravels. I thought the magic system fit well into the overall plot, but I wish there was so more world building outside of the hotel.

There’s a little sub plot of romance throughout and that was sweet. It didn’t overshadow Jani’s main goals, but Bel was a good guide post to help her figure some things out. The villain was kind of weak, or I guess I’d say, typical.

Things wrapped up quickly at the end and I consider it a good read for those who want The Night Circus vibes, but make it young adult. Or those wanting Caraval vibes but shoved into a standalone.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: kidnapping, forced loss of memory, magical altercations, loss of loved ones

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ARC Book Review: All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary + Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: March 1st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sabaa Tahir comes a brilliant, unforgettable, and heart-wrenching contemporary YA novel about family and forgiveness, love and loss, in a sweeping story that crosses generations and continents.

Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.

Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.

Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.

When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.

From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness—one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

MUST READ.

I’ve sat here in a struggle to put words together enough to explain how I think this should be a required reading type of book. Filled with some things I understand, but many more I never will. This is one of those stories that we need to hear, need to acknowledge and need to learn from.

The nuanced level at which the title, All My Rage, played out on page was impeccable. I saw the rage, I felt the rage. A complex emotion that stems from many different avenues was written out again and again in raw and deep ways. This isn’t a light-hearted read by any means. Yet with the discussion of religion and love for those around us and far from us, hope still stands like a pillar in dark times.

It was visceral and full of broken-hearted people trying to rise from the ashes. I loved the main characters, Noor, Salahudin, and Misbah. Each told their own story as they wove around each other. The strength of this story is immense. The writing was captivating and the pacing made the pages fly by. I loved the ending and these characters are going to stay with me for a long time.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary + Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: drug and alcohol addiction, mentions of repressed sexual assault, physical domestic abuse, Islamophobia, racism, death, tense exchanges with law enforcement

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ARC Book Review: Echoes and Empires (Echoes and Empires #1) by Morgan Rhodes

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Morgan Rhodes
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: January 4th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A snarky seventeen-year-old must team up with an enigmatic criminal to cure herself of dangerous forbidden magic in the first book of a new fantasy duology from Morgan Rhodes, the New York Times bestselling author of the Falling Kingdoms series.

Josslyn Drake knows only three things about magic: it’s rare, illegal, and always deadly. So when she’s caught up in a robbery gone wrong at the Queen’s Gala and infected by a dangerous piece of magic—one that allows her to step into the memories of an infamously evil warlock—she finds herself living her worst nightmare. Joss needs the magic removed before it corrupts her soul and kills her. But in Ironport, the cost of doing magic is death, and seeking help might mean scheduling her own execution. There’s nobody she can trust.

Nobody, that is, except wanted criminal Jericho Nox, who offers her a deal: his help extracting the magic in exchange for the magic itself. And though she’s not thrilled to be working with a thief, especially one as infuriating (and infuriatingly handsome) as Jericho, Joss is desperate enough to accept.

But Jericho is nothing like Joss expects. The closer she grows with Jericho and the more she sees of the world outside her pampered life in the city, the more Joss begins to question the beliefs she’s always taken for granted—beliefs about right and wrong, about power and magic, and even about herself.

In an empire built on lies, the truth may be her greatest weapon.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

ENCHANTED.

This didn’t have the best start for me. I wasn’t vibing with the main character at all. But I also could recognize the option for some major growth and gave Josslyn the benefit of the doubt. It paid off!

Josslyn really grew on me. From high and mighty, stuck in her opinions and way to learning to listen and absorb new information to fit into a better narrative of the world around her. I liked how she found strength and called Jericho out when he needed it. Joss had so much thrown at her and many reveals that she handled well and now she’s a main character I can get behind.

I adored the beginnings of some enemies to lovers romance. The banter is top notch and I found myself smirking right alongside Jericho. The teamwork and a few quiet scenes. Yesss. The only thing missing were a few more kissing scenes. Though I imagine book two is going to bring the heat.

The plot gets kind of wild and even when I saw the reveals coming I still appreciated the set up and ingenuity. The world building is interesting and took me a minute to grasp. It’s a mix of urban fantasy + technologically advanced society + elemental magic I want more info on. A unique combination that I look forward to further exploration in the second book.

Lots of good stuff here. I just couldn’t put it down. I loved Rhodes Falling Kingdoms series and have been anxiously awaiting getting a chance to read this. Not one to miss!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: physical, gun violence, magical altercations, blood depiction, torture, loss of loved ones

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