Book Review: Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew

July 23, 2025June 21, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Length: 368 pages
Author: Kelly Andrew
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A seductively twisted romance about loyalty, fate, the lengths we go to hide the darkest parts of ourselves . . . and the people who love those parts most of all.

Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she’s just inherited — to burn it to the ground. But during her final walkthrough of her childhood home, she makes a shocking discovery in the basement — Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead.

Unbeknownst to Wyatt, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on her family’s property. Semi-immortal, Peter never remains dead for long, but he can’t really live, either. Not while he’s bound to the farm, locked in a cycle of grisly deaths and painful rebirths. There’s only one way for him to break free. He needs to end the Westlock line.

He needs to kill Wyatt.

With Wyatt’s parents gone, the spells protecting the property have begun to unravel, and dark, ancient forces gather in the nearby forest. The only way for Wyatt to repair the wards is to work with Peter — the one person who knows how to harness her volatile magic. But how can she trust a boy who’s sworn an oath to destroy her? When the past turns up to haunt them in the most unexpected way, they are forced to rely on one another to survive, or else tear each other apart.

IT STARTED OFF STRONG.

I admit to being very intrigued at the get-go. It was an interesting story and I liked the set-up. I liked the characters and wanted to see how the plot would unfold. But then it started to feel like the wheels were coming off and by the end I had the biggest head tilt while listening trying to piece together the fragments of the closing pages.

This is some kind of mash up of urban fantasy + paranormal. There’s some puzzling dynamics between the three main leads that were fun to ponder for a bit. Some of the reveals were good, and some not so much. I think the confusion of the magic and the cult group lost me. It is definitely spooky and atmospheric though.

And without spoiling the ending I am left feeling bereft with the execution. It was supposed to be neat, but felt messy and then just rushed off into the sunset. I don’t know, this wasn’t it.

Overall audience notes:

YA Paranormal Fantasy
Language: low-moderate
Romance: kisses
Violence: high
Content Warnings: animal death, blood, cults, allusions to sexual assault, elements of body horror

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ARC/ALC Book Review: Steel & Spellfire by Laura E. Weymouth

July 22, 2025July 19, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Laura E. Weymouth
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: July 22nd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A devastatingly gifted mage with clandestine romantic connections to a Royal Guard joins the court social season in an attempt to undo past wrongs, only to fall under suspicion when a creature with powers shockingly like her own begins slaughtering her fellow debutantes.

Pandora Small has two ruling objectives: first, to keep the prodigious extent of her power secret, in a world where mages are feared and governed by suffocating laws. Second, to find her wealthy and noble-born patron, a shadowy figure bound to Pandora by magic, who stole her childhood and grew her power until she became a weapon rather than a girl. To that end, she’s posing as an Ingenue, a privileged and petted young woman of strictly limited abilities, who is allowed access to the royal court’s social season in order to find a husband and patron to control her magic.

But on Pandora’s arrival at court, Kit Beacon, one of the most promising members of the Royal Guard, inadvertently learns the true scope of her power. Privately sympathetic towards mages and the difficulties they face, Beacon decides to keep Pandora’s secret. But when someone or something with powers terribly like Pandora’s own begins slaughtering her fellow Ingenues, Beacon’s resolve to keep what he knows about her private is put to the test.

Tasked with protecting all the girls in the palace, not just one, Beacon will have to decide whether Pandora is a suspect or an ally, while to win his trust, Pandora will have to let him know more of her still—the worst of who she is and what she’s done. Because only unity between them during the social whirlwind to come will enable Pan to find her patron and Beacon the killer, and ensure they both see justice meted out.

Thank you Simon Audio for the audiobook and Simon Teen for the ARC (gifted).

WELL.

I think this was trying to do too much in a standalone. Maybe spread out across a duology would have been better? The ideas and framework were interesting and I don’t think there was anything inherently wrong with the writing style. I just kept waiting for everything to truly come together or for me to feel invested, and I never got to that stage.

I liked the characters. It is young adult appropriate which I know can be hard to find, but with kisses only and no excess language I think a younger audience would like this.

And I did enjoy the regency-esque world. I love fantasy books with that dynamic. There’s some good scenes and I don’t think it was a BAD book, just not for me.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: mild – moderate

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ARC/ALC Book Review: The Blood Phoenix (Fall of the Dragon #2) by Amber Chen

June 23, 2025June 2, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy + Romance
Length: 464 pages
Author: Amber Chen
Publisher: Viking Books
Release Date: June 17th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The sequel to Of Jade and Dragons, a thrilling and epic silkpunk fantasy inspired by the legendary Qing dynasty. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Lim and Xiran Jay Zhao.

Two years after Ying leaves the Engineer’s Guild and the ghost of her father’s unjust death behind, life seems to regain a semblance of normalcy. But the winds of unrest continue to stir within the Nine Isles, and the aftermath of a horrific pirate attack by the mysterious Blood Phoenix fleet forces Ying back into the tense political world of the new High Commander, Ye-yang. And soon, Ying, Ye-yang and her former friends from the guild must work together to find a way to outsmart the cunning pirates who terrorise the straits—and the elusive mastermind who’s controlling them.

Meanwhile, Ying’s sister, Nian, now lives in the capital, awaiting the day she will finally marry the High Commander. While her relationship with Ye-yang remains distant, she finds company in her friendship with the fourteenth prince, Ye-kan, and discovers her unexpected affinity for governance and strategy. But the capital is more dangerous than she expects, and when a dark conspiracy arises, Nian and Ye-kan must unravel the mystery in time to prevent the High Command from collapsing from within.

New dangers arise at every moment, threatening to tear the Nine Isles apart. In order to sail through this storm, Ying and her loved ones must make difficult choices amidst terrible betrayals. With the world on the brink of destruction, will they find a way to defeat their enemies and survive? And will it be worth the cost?

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Colored Pages Book Tours for the gifted copy and PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook.

I THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD SEQUEL.

I’m not going to lie, the early reviews for this one had made me nervous because I loved Of Jade and Dragons so I’ve been trying to do everything to get my hands on book two, and for me? It was not a disappointment (do I wish I could give it five stars, sure, but I am not mad that I read it).

ANYWAYS. I loved seeing all of the STEM aspects and the guilds and how everything works together in this world. It’s brutal and full of failings, but the rise of many of these characters, especially the FMC was fantastic.

It had an ending that I can see people being somewhat frustrated with but I have read multiple books like this before and prefer to live in the fantasy of it all so I think it fits where the author was trying to lead us. AND it helped create a better sense for why there was a second POV added that wasn’t the MMC (it’s Ying’s sister, Nian, if you’re curious).

I think these characters had to go through some hard things and make some hard decisions. Was every decision the best choice? Probably not but that’s from the viewpoint of a reader. I liked that it was complicated, the struggle felt real.

The middle of this book side quested hard. A little too hard. I had an issue from the pacing of that, but otherwise, I liked the action and politicking and not quite knowing who was behind it all. I really enjoy Amber Chen’s writing style and story telling so I will absolutely be back for her next book.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy + Romance
Language: mild
Romance: kisses
Violence: moderate

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Book Review: Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

June 4, 2025April 18, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 356 pages
Author: Makiia Lucier
Publisher: Clarion Books
Release Date: April 9th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From acclaimed author Makiia Lucier, a dazzling, romantic fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology.

In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. An unwanted marriage, a painful illness, and unpaid debt … gone. But as with all things that promise the moon and the stars and offer hope when hope has gone, the tale comes with a warning.

Every wish demands a price.

Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong.

Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time – hope.

But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself.

ENJOYED.

This was a great, quick read. I loved the Moana x How to Train Your Dragon vibes. It’s a fun adventure filled with sea dragons, pirates, and a good old fashioned quest. I loved the world and how the magic system with the dragons worked.

It’s a really great standalone and truly in the young adult category. I think many would enjoy it. I needed a bit more character depth and just something else. Not upset at all I picked it up though.

Overall audience notes: