Tag: young adult fantasy

Book Review: There Will Come a Darkness (The Age of Darkness #1) by Katy Rose Pool

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 496 pages
Author: Katy Rose Pool
Publisher: Henry Holt
Release Date: September 3rd, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Age of Darkness approaches.
Five lives stand in its way.
Who will stop it… or unleash it?

For generations, the Seven Prophets guided humanity. Using their visions of the future, they ended wars and united nations―until the day, one hundred years ago, when the Prophets disappeared.

All they left behind was one final, secret prophecy, foretelling an Age of Darkness and the birth of a new Prophet who could be the world’s salvation . . . or the cause of its destruction. As chaos takes hold, five souls are set on a collision course:

A prince exiled from his kingdom.
A ruthless killer known as the Pale Hand.
A once-faithful leader torn between his duty and his heart.
A reckless gambler with the power to find anything or anyone.
And a dying girl on the verge of giving up.

One of them―or all of them―could break the world. Will they be savior or destroyer?

A WEE BIT TYPICAL.

I have had this on my 2019 list for awhile. Really excited about it. I love multiple POV group books (like The Gilded Wolves, Six of Crows, Aurora Rising, etc.). There’s something magical about having so many thoughts and characters come together that make for a fun read. This was good overall I’d say.

My glaring issues was the amount of typical YA fantasy book related things. It didn’t feel new. I can’t put my finger on the exact time or place in the book other than a general feeling of eh, haven’t I read this before? Don’t get me wrong, I was still entertained and found it an easy read.

I appreciated that the world-building was simple to follow. I understood the politics and dynamics of everything surrounding these characters. I knew what the villain’s goals were, how everyone wanted to accomplish their own goals, how the magic system worked. It was nice not to feel like I was staring at a wall of chaos trying to understand the premise.

Weird tidbit, I’m not sure I liked any of the point-of-view characters? They were all kind of hard to love. A few of them were consistently making poor choices and running away from problems that only caused more issues which had me entirely frustrated. If I had to choose anyone I was enjoying it would probably be Jude. Bless his heart, he’s going to have a rough second book though. I wish I could connect to everyone on a deeper level. This goes for their relationships too. Lots of budding pairings, yet nothing felt REAL. It was all happening too fast in a series. We have time, let’s develop these bonds first.

I have the second book on my TBR and have plans to read it. Whether or not I found this book OUTSTANDING, I am curious what twists will come my way next. There were plenty of side characters that kept me on my toes (much obliged for that). I liked constantly thinking to myself, are they good? are they bad? what’s the truth?!. It made for fast page flipping to get to the bottom of it all.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy, multi-POV
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: a few kisses
  • Violence: skirmishes, fire, torture (by water/drowning, fire), physical

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Book Review: Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Sci-fi
Length: 461 pages
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: November 26th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Reckoners series, Words of Radiance, the Mistborn trilogy, and the Stormlight Archive comes the second book in an epic series about a girl with a secret in a dangerous world at war for humanity’s future.

All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she’s a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing. The rumors of his cowardice are true–he deserted his flight during battle against the Krell. Worse, though, he turned against his team and attacked them.

Spensa is sure there’s more to the story. And she’s sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars–and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.

But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself–and she’ll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.

ANYONE ELSE FREAKED OUT BY SPACE YET?

But really. The whole concept of not really knowing what’s out there makes my head hurt. And reading an authors rendition of a world he’s built along the same concept is mind shattering too.

I am making my way through all things Sanderson and was anxiously awaiting for this book to make it do my doorstop. It did not disappoint! Okay, well to be honest, a tiny bit, but I’ll explain.

This was clearly, a middle book. This series is now four books and we have a two year til the next one. Spensa spent most of her time on another planet without her comrades AND I MISSED THEM SO MUCH. That was my biggest issue. I had to learn to love other characters and follow a espionage type story and I wanted my whole crew together.

Though, it looks like my ship is going to set sail by the end of this series. AND I AM SO HERE FOR IT. I love Jorgen and Spensa so much. And it also drove me crazy I didn’t get enough of them. I like where Jorgen’s story line is going so I’m curious how that will tie back into Spensa.

I love learning even more about this world. It goes to show how large of worlds Sanderson creates. There were so many different types of aliens with unique cultures and it was inventive to have them all in one local place for Spensa to mix and mingle with. It gave her a chance to see outside her own world and gave her another layer to her character arc.

Finally learning how a hyperdrive works about blew my mind. Talk about a, WAIT WHAT moment. I have so many more questions about how all of this works (in a good way). I can’t wait to see how this all works together too. They’re many building blocks that I can see that are standard in Sanderson’s work. He’s only going to take us on an even wilder ride.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult sci-fi / fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: a kiss
  • Violence: space battles, guns, explosions

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Book Review: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Fiction
Length: 277 pages
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Publisher: Square Fish
Expected Release Date: September 9th, 2005
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice.

Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

This moving, often funny book about grief, death, and loss will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

AN INTERESTING CONCEPT.

This was a SUPER quick read. And a very interesting take on heaven.

The whole idea of someone aging backwards until their a baby again in the land of Elsewhere was a bit odd and troublesome to me, but I thought it was unique to think about. While this didn’t change any personal concepts on what I believe the afterlife is like I still found it thoughtful.

It’s a very moving and bittersweet story for Liz, who’s life is cut way too short by an accident. She had to cope with grief and depression to find the hope that she could in her new world. Liz definitely pulled at my heart strings. I love the characters that were in her world and how they each brought something to the story. Betty, Owen, Thandi, and more surrounded Liz when she needed it to help her move on.

It’s even more well-imagined when I got to the dog portion. OHEMGEE talking dogs? SERIOUSLY ALL I WANT. I love the perspective and life and love that came from having a dog in the afterlife. They were cute and spunky and I wanted to hug them all.They also brought a different layer to the story because they were constantly just as thoughtful as the humans.

I like that there was a tiny touch of romance and overwhelming friendships. I think Liz needed something like that to understand her story of life and death. While wildly different they can also be wildly similar.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fiction
  • Language: little
  • Romance: a few kisses
  • Violence: discussion of death and how people died (some included were: cancer, overdose, hit and run, gunshot wound, plane crash, flu and more)

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Book Review: Give the Dark My Love (Give the Dark My Love #1) by Beth Revis

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: September 25th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

When seventeen-year-old Nedra Brysstain leaves her home in the rural, northern territories of Lunar Island to attend the prestigious Yugen Academy, she has only one goal in mind: learn the trade of medicinal alchemy. A scholarship student matriculating with the children of Lunar Island’s wealthiest and most powerful families, Nedra doesn’t quite fit in with the other kids at Yugen, who all look down on her.

All, except for Greggori “Grey” Astor. Grey is immediately taken by the brilliant and stubborn Nedra, who he notices is especially invested in her studies. And that’s for a good reason: a deadly plague has been sweeping through the North, and it’s making its way toward the cities. With her family’s life–and the lives of all of Lunar Island’s citizens–on the line, Nedra is determined to find a cure for the plague.

Grey and Nedra continue to grow closer, but as the sickness spreads and the body count rises, Nedra becomes desperate to find a cure. Soon, she finds herself diving into alchemy’s most dangerous corners–and when she turns to the most forbidden practice of all, necromancy, even Grey might not be able to pull her from the darkness. 

DARK AND CREEPY.

This isn’t a thriller, but the subject matter is definitely in that category. A wasting death that seems to be attacking everyone, making limbs turn black and amputations be the only possible solution. WHAT. Lock me in a tower and throw away the key. I don’t want anything to do with that.

I listened to this on audio so I like to mention the narration. The female voice was fine, she did it in an accent (because the character is said to have one). It was easily understood and I thought brought Nedra more to life. The male voice I did not love the way it was done. He was hard to understand and I struggled to get through Grey’s chapters because of it.

The magic system is a bit twisted y’all. I actually didn’t like it. NOT because it wasn’t thought out and put together well, but because it involved harming animals. Mice were only every actively used in this book. The concept was drawing out someone else’s pain and giving it to the mouse/rat. It made me sad for the tiny creatures.

Nedra was an MC that had to grow on me. At first I was realllll annoyed and tired of her being utterly convinced it was ONLY her who could save EVERYONE. She pushed people away so much and I kept thinking, girl chill. I did love her character change by the end because who doesn’t love when an MC turns into more-or-less a villain? It was wicked good and I can’t wait for the next book to see what she does next.

There were some plot twists at the end that I was like WAIT WHAT? [even said that out loud]. I had imagined a different character being the instigator of the plague, and was totally surprised by who it was. Love it. I love when a book can trick me and keep me on my toes.

I feel like I need to mention the romance part. There’s a little in here. Grey and Nedra form a relationship over time and it’s cute. They get to know one another and hang out, have a few sweet kisses. I did like it, but it seems like it’ll play a bigger role in book two.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: a few kisses, a make out
  • Violence: wasting illness, amputations, animals being used for magic system, guns; pretty violent and gory

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