Tag: young adult fantasy romance

Book Review: Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Catherine Bakewell
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: March 14th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Tamora Pierce, this standalone YA debut is a stunning cottagecore fantasy romance about a girl with powerful and violent magic, which she must learn to control—or lose everything she loves.

Clara’s magic has always been wild. But it’s never been dangerous. Then a simple touch causes poisonous flowers to bloom in her father’s chest.

The only way to heal him is to cast an extremely difficult spell that requires perfect control. And the only person willing to help is her former best friend, Xavier, who’s grown from a sweet, shy child into a mysterious and distant young man.

Xavier names a terrible price in return, knowing Clara will give anything to save her father. As she struggles to reconcile the new Xavier with the boy she once loved, she discovers their bargain is only one of the heavy secrets he’s hiding. And as she hunts for the truth, she instead finds the root of a terrible darkness that’s taken hold in the queendom—a darkness only Clara’s magic is powerful enough to stop.

MEH.

I admit the beautiful cover sucked me in, even though I had friends give this book the same rating I just did. I was still hopeful. OH WELL.

The general idea of this book was fine. And the characters were also that, just fine. Setting, magic, world building. FINE (see where I’m going with this?). The entire book needed much more expansion of all the ideas. Too many things felt small or rushed for the sake of completing the story in one book and I don’t think the overall plot was strong enough to carry it through.

I liked the romance. It was a kind of cute second chance trope that caught my attention. Things moved super fast (my usual issue in standalone fantasies), besides that though, I did like how things wrapped up. It was a good ending and I was happy to see some necessary things resolved.

Darn you gorgeous cover artists.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: depression, a sick parent, light wound depiction

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Book Review: These Infinite Threads (This Woven Kingdom #2) by Tahereh Mafi

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: February 7th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

With the heat of a kiss, the walls between Alizeh, the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom, and Kamran, the crown prince of the Ardunian empire, have crumbled. And so have both of their lives.

Kamran’s grandfather, the king of Ardunia, lays dead, the terrible secret of his deal with the devil exposed to the world. Cyrus, the mysterious copper-haired royal, has stolen Alizeh away to Tulan, the neighboring kingdom where he rules. Cyrus has made his own deal with the devil—one that would require Alizeh to betray her feelings for Kamran if she’s to reclaim the Jinn throne.

Alizeh wants nothing to do with Cyrus, or his deal with Iblees. But with no means of escaping Tulan, and with the tantalizing promise of fulfilling her destiny as the heir to the Jinn, she’s forced to wonder whether she can set aside her emotions—and finally become the queen her people need.

Kamran, meanwhile, is picking up the pieces of his broken kingdom. Facing betrayal at every turn, all he knows for certain is that he must go to Tulan to avenge his grandfather. He can only hope that Alizeh will be waiting for him there—and that she’s not yet become queen of Tulan.

WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO FEEL.

This book left me feeling super conflicted.

If I think about the romance in one context, I don’t necessarily mind it, I can see where it could work. Morally gray is my wheelhouse and romantic switch ups are fantastic. Lets do it.

Buuuut if I’m supposed to be thinking about it in a different way on the other side of the love triangle I didn’t realize was occurring then why were they separated the entire time??????

I DON’T KNOW. Honestly, I don’t know how to continue the review. There’s not much true plot movement. It’s mostly spent with Alizeh trying to decide if she should marry someone and Kamran wallowing about his new position. Grateful for an audiobook I could speed up.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: medium
  • Trigger/Context Warnings: kidnapping, some physical altercations

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Book Review: Powerless (The Powerless Trilogy #1) by Lauren Roberts

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 523 pages
Author: Lauren Roberts
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: November 7th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She is the very thing he’s spent his whole life hunting.
He is the very thing she’s spent her whole life pretending to be.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN.

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME I SHOULD READ THIS SOONER. Good heavens this is EVERYTHING I love about enemies to lovers young adult fantasy romance. I was already thinking it was a five star read a quarter of the way through. And it DELIVERED.

I loved the banter between Paeydn and the prince. And the amount of scenes were I was kicking my feet can not be charted. There was a fantastic balance of intense action scenes mixed in with the soft and tender. I was smitten with them and can’t wait to see where this relationship goes.

Paedyn was amazing. I loved her. She was strong and capable, and when she went there she WENT THERE. I was impressed with the turns this book took and how it continually kept me guessing. There’s some subtle Hunger Games vibes that I fit well and the competition was fierce.

THE ENDING THOUGH. I am a sucker for an incredible, make me shout kind of cliffhanger shocker. IYKYK why this is one of my favorite endings. I will now be telling anyone who will listen that this is the next fantasy book they need.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: low
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: battle themes, loss of life, murder, mentions of child abuse, torture, loss of loved ones

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Book Review: Maiden of Candlelight and Lotuses (The Zheninghai Chronicles #0) by Anastasis Blythe

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 387 pages
Author: Anastasis Blythe
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 30th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Dreams of magic and romance have no place in the heart of a poor farm girl. Or so Liena thought…

Magical visions have a way of turning the world upside-down. One minute Song Liena is a simple farm girl hoping for good luck at the matchmaker, and the next she is a student at the empire’s most rigorous and dangerous magic Academy.

It doesn’t take long for her to realize she’s ten years behind, her magic is weak, and she is in way over her head. But Liena is determined to work hard if it means a chance at a better life for her family.

She just wasn’t counting on being noticed by the handsome Crown Prince—a warrior-in-training said to have fire magic powerful enough to decimate entire armies.

But princes are not for peasants, and everything is not as it seems at the Academy. Monsters lurk around every corner, and someone is dabbling in dark, illegal magic.
Someone who has set their sinister sights on her.

THOUGHTS.

One on side of the review I enjoyed this. It has an easy writing style that makes for a fast pace. I liked the nods to Mulan (though maybe a little too close at the beginning and end?). It’s a good premise type of set-up that leaves plenty of room for more stories in the world.

What’s missing is the world though. My main issue stems from the fact that there’s no world building. Everything is set at an academy and there’s discussions on the different types of creatures they have to defend against buuuut that’s kind of it. There’s even a Prince! And I know NOTHING about his kingdom??! Or the magic. Everyone seems to have a different type of magic yet there’s no explanation as to why that is or what type of limits there are or why someone’s works better than the next.

The romance is sweet, would have loved even more development, it was cute enough. And the side characters are your typical bunch you find at school: the nice guy, the bully, etc. I’ve heard how the series differs from here so I’m tempted to give the second book a go.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: med-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: physical and magical altercations, weapons violence, creature attacks, bullying

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