Tag: young adult fantasy

Book Review: The Blood Orchid (The Scarlet Alchemist #2) by Kylie Lee Baker

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Author: Kylie Lee Baker
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Release Date: October 22nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Since Zilan entered the world of royal alchemists, she has learned that alchemy comes at a price. She has lost loved ones in her search for broader justice against the evil Empress and all she wants now is to find some way to bring them back. Resurrection is her specialty, after all.

In search of the myth of Penglai Island, where it’s rumored life can be fully restored, Zilan starts a new adventure. But when old threats come back to haunt her and the path to Penglai Island means facing down unpredictable, sometimes dangerous, alchemists, she wonders just how high of a price she may be willing to pay.

NEW FAV.

I think this is officially my new favorite KLB book. I really enjoyed this. I also loved the audiobook. The narrator did a fantastic job of injecting the right tone and it made the story really thrive. I thought the banter was even more amplified and made me laugh out loud amidst the dark and gritty nature of the plot.

I loved the complexity of the historical and fantasy elements coming together. It’s interesting and unique and I liked the continuation of Zilan’s journey. There’s tangled sibling dynamics and a small romance that has its own interesting charm. I will definitely be continuing to pick up new books from KLB.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: low – moderate
  • Romance: flirting
  • Violence: moderate – high

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Book Review: Bane of Asgard (Runestone Saga #2) by Cinda Williams Chima

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 640 pages
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: October 22nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The highly anticipated sequel in the acclaimed Runestone Saga from New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima with more adventure, mystery, and plot twists than ever before.

Reunited in New Jotunheim, Reginn, Eiric and Liv discover that they are game pieces being played on a hidden board. Eiric’s slaughter of the old council has opened Tyra’s path to power—she now has the perfect excuse to launch a war against the Archipelago. Tyra is also using her dottir, Liv, as a vehicle to raise a dangerous goddess. And Reginn is tasked with crossing the boundary between the living and the dead to gain access to powerful magical secrets.

With Reginn’s help, Eiric escapes prison and returns home to find his brodir and warn the Archipelago of the impending attack. Meanwhile, she remains at the Grove to try to prevent the outbreak of war. Soon, though, Reginn learns her true role in this use her power to raise the dead to ensure victory for New Jotunheim. The demon Asger Eldr tells her that she alone can prevent another Ragnarok. But how?

Back in the Archipelago, Eiric agrees to join the king’s forces, though that means taking up arms against his systir, Liv, and Reginn, the spinner who has ensnared his heart. For perhaps the first time in his life, he dreads the coming fight. 

As the two sides prepare for an apocalyptic battle, Eiric, Reginn, and Liv find allies and enemies in unexpected places and draw on new strengths as they seek to prevent the destruction of the last of the Nine Worlds.

THANK GOODNESS FOR AUDIO.

I think I may have struggled with this more if I was physically reading it so I’m grateful for an audiobook to help the pacing issues that plagued this throughout. It is slow and a bit meandering and occasionally lost focus.

The characters were all fantastic though. After I finally started remembering what happened in book one I started to fall more for this whole cast. There’s some solid found family foundations and plenty of political intrigue to have some good turns woven in. I have always enjoyed (and continue to do so) CWC writing style. I like her story telling capabilities a lot. I do wish there had been a bit more romance though (I can’t help myself) because I genuinely think that would have built the impact of some scenes more.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate – high
  • Content Warnings: blood/gore depiction, murder, torture, kidnapping, loss of life and battle themes

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: October 2025

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I had to amp up the reading to combat the fact that I had EIGHT arcs coming out on November 4th. But all is good, all has been read. Reviews will be out over the next few months!

  • Town of Shadows (Slanted London #1) by Jessica Scarlet
  • The Weaver Bride (The Weaver Bride #1) by Lydia Gregovic
  • [ARC] Marriage is Shore Thing (Wilks Beach #2) by Laura Langa
  • Throne in the Dark (Villains & Virtues #1) by A.K. Caggiano
  • Unending (The Unseelie Duology #2) by Ivelisse Housman
  • Our Beautiful Mess by B.K. Clark
  • The Mummy Snatcher Curse (The Wand Keepers #2) by Tiffany McDaniel
  • Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause
  • [ARC/ALC] Secret Haven (Sparrow Falls #6) by Catherine Cowles
  • Ghost Business (Boneyard Key #2) by Jen DeLuca
  • A Steeping of Blood (A Tempest of Tea Duology #2) by Hafsah Faizal
  • The Sound of Summer (The House on Harrison Blvd #1) by Meagan Williamson
  • [ALC] Red City (The New Alchemists #1) by Marie Lu
  • [ARC]The Demon and the Light (The Floating World #2) by Axie Oh
  • House of Dragons (Royal Houses #1) by K.A. Linde
  • [ARC/ALC] An Ocean Apart by Jill Tew
  • Summoned to the Wilds (Villains & Virtues #1) by A.K. Caggiano
  • Kill the Beast by Serra Swift
  • The Arrow and the Alder by Barbara Kloss
  • The Last Tiger by Julia Riew & Brad Riew
  • [ALC] The Heir (Crownhaven #1) by Sophia Travers
  • [ALC] Never Ever After (Never Ever After #1) by Sue Lynn Tan
  • Sonnets and Serpents (Casters & Crowns #2) by Elizabeth Lowham
  • [ARC] Against a Crescent Storm (The Balkan Legends #3) by A.L. Sowards
  • For No Mortal Creature by Kenshe Chow
  • [ALC] The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
  • [ARC] The Prince of Mourning by Jenn Bennett
  • [ARC] The Maid of Sherwood Forest (A McQuivey’s Costume Shop Romance #2) by Sian Ann Bessey
  • Every Spiral of Fate (This Woven Kingdom #4) by Tahereh Mafi
  • [ALC] Fallen City (Fallen City Duology #1) by Adrienne Young
  • [ARC] Through Each Tomorrow (Timeless #6) by Gabrielle Meyer
  • A Land So Wide by Erin A. Craig
  • [Novella] A Very Merry Matchup by Becca Kinzer
  • [ARC/ALC] A Queen’s Match (A Queen’s Duet #2) by Katharine McGee
  • [ARC] Ship of Spells by H. Leighton Dickson
  • [Novella] Holly (Belladonna #3.5) by Adalyn Grace

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Book Review: Sonnets and Serpents (Casters & Crowns #2) by Elizabeth Lowham

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Elizabeth Lowham
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: October 7th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A cynical shapeshifter. A hopeful princess. A love they never saw coming.

Silas Bennett grew up in a kingdom where magic-users are persecuted, especially those with the rare ability to transform into animals. After discovering he could shapeshift into a serpent, Silas was nearly killed—only to escape to a neighboring kingdom where he could study and use his magic freely. Now, he is determined to become a professor at the university he calls home, even though he is only nineteen. But first he must distinguish himself in his research field by proving that legendary magic stealers exist.

Princess Eliza, a hopeless romantic inspired by sonnets and their promises of true love, refuses to believe her beloved Henry perished at sea. She will do whatever it takes to find him and bring him home—even if it means traveling to another country and asking for help from a shapeshifting outcast.

With Eliza’s relentless optimism pitted against Silas’s unyielding cynicism, the two enemies can’t seem to have a civil conversation. But when they are unexpectedly bound by a pair of magical bracelets, which can only be unlocked by a kiss of true love, they quickly discover that they’ll have to work together as they navigate different languages, their past prejudices and fears, and a blossoming relationship. When their search for the truth about magic stealers threatens both Silas’s magic and Eliza’s safety, the two must learn to be vulnerable and trust each other’s hearts.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain for a gifted copy.

WELL WELL WELL.

After [to put it mildly] not loving this author’s first book I convinced myself to give another story another chance and here we are. I will say, waiting for the audiobook helped. I liked that I could move through it faster and yay for having two narrators for the dual POV’s.

I thought this was a fairly simple story but had some good messages and general themes that I could connect with. It ends well and I did like the main characters. The book is heavily forced proximity based and that really sold me on the romance as the chapters turned.

What was kind of a bummer was the “enemies to lovers” trope this had presented. The banter came across more juvenile than heated and made me chuckle rather than swoon.

All in all, I’m not upset I read it but also can’t shout READ THIS BOOK either? If you enjoy closed door romances and are easy to please, try it out.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: mild

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