Book Review: Bright Raven Skies (Sweet Black Waves #3) by Kristina Pérez

January 18, 2021September 2, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy / Retelling
Length: 464 pages
Author: Kristina Pérez
Publisher: Imprint
Release Date: August 25th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Bright Raven Skies is the thrilling conclusion to the lush and heart-wrenching romantic fantasy trilogy about ancient magic, warring families, and star-crossed lovers by Kristina Pérez.

To save the kingdom, Branwen embraced the darkest aspects of her magic. But she may have lost herself––and the two people she loves most.

Tristan and Eseult are missing. As Branwen searches for them, she must hide the truth surrounding their disappearance from both the king and her lover. Above all, she must find the Queen and her Champion first.

New and old enemies circle Branwen, clamoring for power and revenge, and threatening to destroy the fragile peace that she has sacrificed everything to secure.

THAT ENDING THOUGH.

What a good conclusion. I feel like this series was never super hyped or out in the forefront, but it happened to be one I picked up and have continually enjoyed each installment as they came out.

This one broke my soul by the end.

I just wanted, no NEEDED Branwen to be happy and secure and to know where she really wanted to stand. I got that, even if it left me wanting to weep for those left behind.

Trying to remain as vague as I can, that this ending was unlike ones I’ve read before. Which is probably why it hurt so much. I think it can lean either way on how it makes you feel about the trilogy as a whole. I found a lot of sense in the writing choices, even if I didn’t want to see them. It worked out the way it should and that’s where I’m leaving that.

Ooooh but all of these characters. How I adored them, and hated them, and loved them. All the things. The side characters themselves are incredibly well thought out and help bring the entire story together. I love that they made me angry, and happy, and all the things because sometimes I want that roller coaster from a book.

Just a good ending to a good series that needs some attention. If you like Tristan and Iseult retellings definitely check this one out! It was fascinating, and looking up the background story was really cool too. I love the way the magic worked (and it has limits and rules!), the beautiful countryside of the lands, and all things inbetween.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy retellings
Language: none
Romance: kisses, a closed door scene or two, one open door scene (at the end)
Violence: battles, murder, poisoning, duels, swords, physical, magic

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ARC Book Review: Winterkeep (Graceling Realm #4) by Kristin Cashore

January 12, 2021December 29, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 528 pages
Author: Kristin Cashore
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
Release Date: January 19th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The highly anticipated next book in the New York Times bestselling, award-winning Graceling Realm series, which has sold 1.3 million copies.

Four years after Bitterblue left off, a new land has been discovered to the east: Torla; and the closest nation to Monsea is Winterkeep. Winterkeep is a land of miracles, a democratic republic run by people who like each other, where people speak to telepathic sea creatures, adopt telepathic foxes as pets, and fly across the sky in ships attached to balloons.

But when Bitterblue’s envoys to Winterkeep drown under suspicious circumstances, she and Giddon and her half sister, Hava, set off to discover the truth–putting both Bitterblue’s life and Giddon’s heart to the test when Bitterbue is kidnapped. Giddon believes she has drowned, leaving him and Hava to solve the mystery of what’s wrong in Winterkeep.

Lovisa Cavenda is the teenage daughter of a powerful Scholar and Industrialist (the opposing governing parties) with a fire inside her that is always hungry, always just nearly about to make something happen. She is the key to everything, but only if she can figure out what’s going on before anyone else, and only if she’s willing to transcend the person she’s been all her life.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC. All opinions are my own.

LEFT WANTING.

I’m going to say it: I was disappointed in this highly anticipated release. It left me wanting many things.

First of all, there’s no way this needed to be 500+ pages. Holy wow, it just kept going and going and going with little direct focus on and overall plot. I felt spun in circles about getting to the bottom of what Bitterblue and her friends were really trying to accomplish.

This was a very nostalgic read for me. I adore the Graceling realm and had high hopes for how this world was going to continue. Even if I was let down, it was still fun to be back and to see characters I’ve missed. I did love seeing Bitterblue again. And her new love interest was sweet and I loved how their ending came about.

I enjoyed the new characters even if there were so good and bad. I also had a hard time with some of the aspects of the multiple romances. This book mostly hung out in a young adult place, but would tend to jump up to mature young adult or border new adult, but only in regards to the love scenes. It left me wondering where it was trying to go.

Lovisa was a strong addition and had a large character arc. I appreciated her resilience against what she knew was wrong even if it was hard going against those she loved. Add in some talking foxes and it was a nice whimsical touch.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy
Language: very little
Romance: kisses/make-outs; some mild open door scenes and closed door
Violence: physical, kidnapping, drownings, explosions, arson, murder

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Book Review: A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #1) by Roseanne A. Brown

December 4, 2020August 1, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 480 pages
Author: Roseanne A. Brown
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: June 2nd, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The first in an fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction.

For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.

But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.

When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?

MANY GOOD THINGS.

Grateful my library picked this one up, and that I happened to see it because I loved this! Definitely a great first book for a YA fantasy series. Definitely here for the sequel.

ASOWAR covered so many important topics. Police brutality, supremacy, slavery, corruption, and more. I love that no matter the genre, important and relevant topics can be addressed. This never took me out of the book but further brought to light topics I am continually learning about.

I liked this world-building and magic system. With a mix of some general YA tropes were many new things that made ASOWAR feel new. These main characters, Karina and Malik had flaws, and yet, I could clearly see the growth from them by the end of the book. I LOVE THAT. I love characters that feel real, experience a range of emotions, make mistakes, and strive to pick the best choice in a world where few of those are available.

The twists and turns occasionally took me by surprise, and even the ones that didn’t, were still interesting and progressed the story effectively. I loved the premise of this massive festival filled with all of these magical beings.

This was a great cast, a beautiful world, wonderful and engaging writing. I had a blast with this one and look forward to seeing how this story continues. I’d love to see more development of the romance, and further explore all of the world!

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy
Language: very little
Romance: kisses, closed door scene (with no lead-up detail)
Violence: bloody/gory; physical, murder, assassination, magical, kidnapping
Trigger warnings: mild self-harm ideation, anxiety and panic attacks, loss of loved ones, animal death

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Book Review: Unravel the Dusk (The Blood of the Stars #2) by Elizabeth Lim

November 23, 2020July 27, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Publisher: Knopf
Release Date: July 7th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The thrilling sequel to SPIN THE DAWN, a magical series steeped in Chinese culture.

Maia Tamarin’s journey to sew the dresses of the sun, the moon and the stars has taken a grievous toll. She returns to a kingdom on the brink of war. The boy she loves is gone, and she is forced to don the dress of the sun and assume the place of the emperor’s bride-to-be to keep the peace.

But the war raging around Maia is nothing compared to the battle within. Ever since she was touched by the demon Bandur, she has been changing . . . glancing in the mirror to see her own eyes glowing red, losing control of her magic, her body, her mind. It’s only a matter of time before Maia loses herself completely, but she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.

YA fantasy readers will love the sizzling forbidden romance, mystery, and intrigue of UNRAVEL THE DUSK.

MISSING.

*sigh*

A second book that didn’t have the same flare as the first.

*deeper sigh*

First off, WHERE WAS EDAN? Practically all aspects of his character were taken out here. He occasionally stopped by to confess his love and give Maia a kiss, and that was about it. I really would have loved more of him.

The demon aspects were kind of creepy and kinda cool. I can’t remember reading a YA fantasy that really had a character dive into the realm of demons and almost become on themselves. The lore of it all was interesting and kept me reading when I struggled to pick it up.

Speed and writing were great. It’s a short book and things kept moving. I liked the pace, but lost the overall emotional connection. This was definitely a different and darker stroke from Spin the Dawn. The ending wasn’t anything I didn’t see coming.

Overall audience notes: