Tag: young adult books

ARC Book Review: Foul Heart Hunstman (Foul Lady Fortune #2) by Chloe Gong

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: YA Historical Fiction + Fantasy
Length: 560 pages
Author: Chloe Gong
Publisher: Simon Teen
Release Date: September 26th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Winter is drawing thick in 1932 Shanghai, as is the ever-nearing threat of a Japanese invasion.

Rosalind Lang has suffered the worst possible fate for a national spy: she’s been exposed. With the media storm camped outside her apartment for the infamous Lady Fortune, she’s barely left her bedroom in weeks, plotting her next course of action after Orion was taken and his memories of Rosalind wiped. Though their marriage might have been a sham, his absence hurts her more than any physical wound. She won’t rest until she gets him back.

But with her identity in the open, the task is near impossible. The only way to leave the city and rescue Orion is under the guise of a national tour. It’s easy to convince her superiors that the countryside needs unity more than ever, and who better than an immortal girl to stir pride and strength into the people?

When the tour goes wrong, however, everything Rosalind once knew is thrown up in the air. Taking refuge outside Shanghai, old ghosts come into the open and adversaries turn to allies. To save Orion, they must find a cure to his mother’s traitorous invention and take this dangerous chemical weapon away from impending foreign invasion—but the clock is ticking, and if Rosalind fails, it’s not only Orion she loses, but her nation itself.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

DID NOT LET ME DOWN.

You know when you’re waiting for your most anticipated 2023 release and that Netgalley approval finally comes through? THIS IS THAT BOOK FOR ME.

And I loved it. I loved it so much. I am constantly pulled in by Chloe Gong’s writing style and the way she tells a story. Captivated by this spy/agent thriller and all of the relationships in between.

LET ME TELL Y’ALL. The romances are subtle, they are not the main plot, but gosh dang it, I was absolutely smitten with ALL OF THEM (and there’s three so YAY). Every nuanced look or little touch, the glances and swoony confessions and kisses. I ate it all up. Surrounding the romances are such loyal and strong sibling and friendship bonds. I love that this has a found family vibe where everyone was looked after, old friends showed up, and past grievances were resolved.

The plot is entertaining and gasp inducing. I loooove that it’s a multi-POV set up and the flow from character to character. The betrayals and losses, the way my husband asked me if I was going to bed soon and I responded with, I’m at 85% and I don’t know who’s going to survive so NO I AM NOT. My emotions have been invoked, my love for this series is intense and I beg of y’all to give it a chance.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Historical Fiction + Fantasy
  • Language: little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, murder, gun violence, weapons and physical violence, bombings, war themes, torture, medical experimentation, amnesia

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Book Review: The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games #3) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Mystery + Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Release Date: August 30th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Avery’s fortune, life, and loves are on the line in the game that everyone will be talking about.

To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets, and they know her.

But as the clock ticks down to the moment when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help—and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.

Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. In this game, there are hearts and lives at stake—and there is nothing more Hawthorne than winning.

STELLAR FINALE.

Don’t you love when you finish a series and realize how much you’ve enjoyed it? Hallelujah this was the case here. What a fantastic YA mystery series.

I LOVE THESE BROTHERS. If I could get spin off books of everyone I would be in bookish heaven. I love Jameson, Grayson, Xander and Nash for in a hundred ways and will protect them at all costs.

The puzzles and games sprinkled throughout were intense to watch unfold. I am continually in awe at this author’s ability to craft such intricate enigmas. I love that I don’t quite know where each answer will lay and who’s on what side.

I do wish there was a touch more romance. I appreciated the growth from Jameson that I really needed to feel more connected to the relationship between him and Avery. They had some really sweet moments though!!

Short chapters make for a fast pace that had me binge reading this needing to know what happens next. I liked the conclusion a lot and how Avery ended up handling the inheritance and defeating the nemesis that came from the past.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Mystery
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: med-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: weapons violence, kidnapping, recounted murder

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Book Review: The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Author: Emily Lloyd-Jones
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Release Date: August 16th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Once upon a time, the kingdoms of Wales were rife with magic and conflict, and eighteen-year-old Mererid “Mer” is well-acquainted with both. She is the last living water diviner and has spent years running from the prince who bound her into his service. Under the prince’s orders, she located the wells of his enemies, and he poisoned them without her knowledge, causing hundreds of deaths. After discovering what he had done, Mer went to great lengths to disappear from his reach. Then Mer’s old handler returns with a proposition: use her powers to bring down the very prince that abused them both.

The best way to do that is to destroy the magical well that keeps the prince’s lands safe. With a motley crew of allies, including a fae-cursed young man, the lady of thieves, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy, Mer may finally be able to steal precious freedom and peace for herself. After all, a person with a knife is one thing… but a person with a cause can topple kingdoms.

The Drowned Woods—set in the same world as The Bone Houses but with a whole new, unforgettable cast of characters—is part heist novel, part dark fairy tale.

WAS I MISSING SOMETHING?

I spent the entire book thinking I was missing some critical aspects of information? I know this is set in the same world as The Bone Houses (which I have read) so I’m not sure if that’s where the background info was but without what I thought I needed this book was lackluster.

And I tend to love heist books?! I do find them hard to accomplish in one book only 400 pages though. Especially when you add in multiple points of view. Many characters + many backgrounds + many different decision makers makes for not enough time spent on each character to get a true feel and depth for them.

Some of the plot pieces were kind of cool. I liked the idea and think others might enjoy this book much more than I did. There’s some good friendship rekindling and a tiny dash of romance.

Nothing surprising or overly enchanting for me. I never got frustrated with it (which is why three stars over two), it just needed a lot more for me to love it.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild

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Book Review: The Stolen Heir (The Stolen Heir Duology #1) by Holly Black

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 358 pages
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Release Date: January 3rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A runaway queen. A reluctant prince. And a quest that may destroy them both.

Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.

Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years.

Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He’s on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren’s help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind.

I AM INVESTED.

I do admit to thinking that this was going to be from Oak’s perspective??? Or at least dual. Sadly that was not the case. BUT I did love Suren. She was feisty and intense. Full of every emotion and just wanting a safe place to land and be loved. I am wholly invested in her journey and can’t wait to see how it further twists in Elfhame.

Oak is just flat out adorable. In his murderous rampage + golden retriever personality ways. It’s a fantastic combination that worked beautifully for me. I love these two together. And I actually like that they have a different vibe than Jude/Cardan. I don’t think I would have enjoyed reading a repeat kind of storyline/personality dynamics.

As usual, I still think these books are too short. I did like everything else though. There’s a good amount of action and plenty of twists that are hard to see coming. This is an adventure tale with lots of travel but doesn’t feel stagnant or drawn out. Another truly good read from Holly Black.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: medium-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, attempted murder, kidnapping, imprisonment, weapons and physical violence

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