Review: Weave A Circle Round

Read if you like: dangerous, unexpected magic, houses that have a mind of their own, and sweeping adventures through time and history.

Weave A Circle Round | Kari Maaren

Series: N/A

Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Fantasy, Historical, Time Travel
Released: November 28th 2017
Pages: 336
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

The unexpected can move in next door

Freddy wants desperately to not be noticed. She doesn't want to be seen as different or unusual, but her step-brother Roland gets attention because he's deaf, and her little sister Mel thinks she's a private detective. All Freddy wants to do is navigate high school with as little trouble as possible.

Then someone moves into the house on Grosvenor Street. Two extremely odd someones.

Cuerva Lachance and Josiah aren't . . . normal. When they move in next door, the house begins to exhibit some decidedly strange tendencies, like not obeying the laws of physics or reality. Just as Freddy thinks she's had enough of Josiah following her around, she's plunged into an adventure millennia in the making and discovers the truth about the new neighbors.

I wasn't sure what to make of this book at first, but the mystery and the hints of magic and wrongness kept me reading - and I'm glad they did! I really enjoyed this book of strangeness and time travel magic and family, and I especially liked how Freddy, the main character, was a grumpy, contrary, angry girl who grew SO MUCH by the end. 

I liked a lot about this book - the house on Grosvenor Street, which grew rooms and lost them and filled with chairs and spider plants at random intervals, the mysterious and maybe menacing characters of Josiah (who I adore and want more stories of please!) and Cuerva Lachance, who has lived forever and has been reincarnated as all kinds of people - notably a Viking man and a cavewoman-type - and all genders. Sometimes she's a man, sometimes she's a woman - she just is, and I loved how Freddy shrugged and accepted it for what it was. Pretty cool way of teaching gender fluidity to teenagers. I liked Freddy's siblings, young Mel who's obsessed with mysteries, and deaf Roland, who is secretly a hero. But I especially loved the different time periods the book went to, and how each was different and imaginative in their own ways!

I'm really not done with these characters and their stories. More please!

4.5 stars

Review: Renegades

Read if you like: fascinating superpowers, characters you fall hard in love with, and thrilling, multi-faceted plots.

Renegades | Marissa Meyer

Series: Renegades

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Superhero
Released: April 5th 2018
Pages: 576
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

Secret Identities. Extraordinary Powers. She wants vengeance. He wants justice.

The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone...except the villains they once overthrew.

Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice—and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both.

I did not predict how much I'd LOVE this book. A secret underground group of villains? A goody-two-shoes hero love interest who can draw things and make them REAL? A kickass ensemble cast, where everyone is interesting and stands out? PLUS a villain-t0-hero character arc? THIS IS EVERYTHING.

Not to mention Adrian's dads are adorable, I love his little brother, and the plot is just outstanding. And THAT ENDING. You need to read this book, seriously. I can't wait for book 2!

5 stars

Review: The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

Read if you like: fun, fast-paced adventures, pirates, and science- and book-loving historical ladies.

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy | Mackenzi Lee

Series: Montague Siblings

Genre: Young Adult, Historical, Adventure
Released: October 2nd 2018
Pages: 512
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

Felicity Montague is through with pretending she prefers society parties to books about bone setting—or that she’s not smarter than most people she knows, or that she cares about anything more than her dream of becoming a doctor.

A year after an accidentally whirlwind tour of Europe, which she spent evading highwaymen and pirates with her brother Monty, Felicity has returned to England with two goals in mind—avoid the marriage proposal of Callum Doyle, a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh; and enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science.

But then a small window of hope opens. Doctor Alexander Platt, an eccentric physician that Felicity idolizes, is looking for research assistants, and Felicity is sure that someone as forward thinking as her hero would be willing to take her on. However, Platt is in Germany, preparing to wed Felicity’s estranged childhood friend Johanna. Not only is Felicity reluctant to opening old wounds, she also has no money to make the trip.

Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity’s way, so long as she’s allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid. In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl’s true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a perilous quest that will lead her from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.

I knew I'd love this because the first book became one of my favourites of last year, and I'm so glad it lived up to expectations. Feminism and fury and a girl who wants to be a physician when the world just wants her to give up, PLUS pirates and sea dragons and girls being supportive friends and Montagues being supportive siblings, AND a giant, slobbering dog and a ship's canon battle for good measure. There's nothing this book doesn't have. I loved every bit of it.

5 stars

Review: All Of This Is True

Read if you like: messed up mysteries, deeply flawed characters, and stories that keep you guessing right to the end.

All of This is True | Lygia Day Penaflor

Series: N/A

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Released: May 15th 2018
Pages: 432
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

Miri Tan loved the book Undertow like it was a living being. So when she and her friends went to a book signing to meet the author, Fatima Ro, they concocted a plan to get close to her, even if her friends won’t admit it now. As for Jonah, well—Miri knows none of that was Fatima’s fault.

Soleil Johnston wanted to be a writer herself one day. When she and her friends started hanging out with her favorite author, Fatima Ro, she couldn’t believe their luck—especially when Jonah Nicholls started hanging out with them, too. Now, looking back, Soleil can’t believe she let Fatima manipulate her and Jonah like that. She can’t believe that she got used for a book.

Penny Panzarella was more than the materialistic party girl everyone at the Graham School thought she was. She desperately wanted Fatima Ro to see that, and she saw her chance when Fatima asked the girls to be transparent with her. If only she’d known what would happen when Fatima learned Jonah’s secret. If only she’d known that the line between fiction and truth was more complicated than any of them imagined. . . .

This book is messed up. I enjoyed it ... I think. I liked some characters but others were just ... odd. But then there's some serious brainwashing going on in this book. And so many secrets. Basically: a group of teens befriend their favourite author, and she manipulates them into doing things she can write a book about. Super creepy and unsettling, but really well written. You'll never read anything like this, I can promise you that.

4.5 stars

Review: Beyond A Darkened Shore

Read if you like: stand-out, unique fantasy worlds, Celtic and Norse myths, and slow-build enemy romance between amazing characters.

Beyond A Darkened Shore | Jessica Leake

Series: N/A

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fantasy, Mythology
Released: April 10th 2018
Pages: 435
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

The ancient land of Éirinn is mired in war. Ciara, Princess of Mide, has never known a time when Éirinn’s kingdoms were not battling for power, or Northmen were not plundering their shores. 

The people of Mide have thankfully always been safe because of Ciara’s unearthly ability to control her enemies’ minds and actions. But lately, a mysterious crow has been appearing to Ciara, whispering warnings of an even darker threat. Although her clansmen dismiss her visions as pagan nonsense, Ciara fears this coming evil will destroy not just Éirinn, but the entire world. 

Then the crow leads Ciara to Leif, a young Northman leader. Leif should be Ciara’s enemy, but when Ciara discovers that he, too, shares her prophetic visions, she knows he’s something more. Leif is mounting an impressive army, and with Ciara’s strength in battle the two might have a chance to save their world. 

With evil rising around them, they’ll do what it takes to defend the land they love…even if it means making the greatest sacrifice of all.

An incredibly unique blend of Irish and Norse myth, with action, battle, and a beating heart of love. I really, really liked this. I love how brutal its main characters are, and how the story revolves equally around fighting for their countries as it does their romance. Everything felt natural, and the enemies to lovers story was done SO WELL. Plus the setting feels authentic, with religion, myth, and rulers woven expertly in. Jessica Leake wrote an Ireland where magic feels real and inevitable (and I love it.)

Exciting, bloody, romantic, and ultimately hopeful - I enjoyed this book so much. (And I'm very happy there's more in this series because I want to read more from the author!)

4.5 stars

Review: Rosemarked

Read if you like: stand-out originality, poisons and healers, sweeping political fantasy, and heartfelt romance.

Rosemarked | Livia Blackburne

Series: Rosemarked

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, High Fantasy
Released: November 7th 2017
Pages: 390
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

A healer who cannot be healed . . .

When Zivah falls prey to the deadly rose plague, she knows it’s only a matter of time before she fully succumbs. Now she’s destined to live her last days in isolation, cut off from her people and unable to practice her art—until a threat to her village creates a need that only she can fill.

A soldier shattered by war . . .

Broken by torture at the hands of the Amparan Empire, Dineas thirsts for revenge against his captors. Now escaped and reunited with his tribe, he’ll do anything to free them from Amparan rule—even if it means undertaking a plan that risks not only his life but his very self.

Thrust together on a high-stakes mission to spy on the capital, the two couldn’t be more different: Zivah, deeply committed to her vow of healing, and Dineas, yearning for vengeance. But as they grow closer, they must find common ground to protect those they love. And amidst the constant fear of discovery, the two grapple with a mutual attraction that could break both of their carefully guarded hearts.

This smart, sweeping fantasy with a political edge and a slow-burning romance will capture fans of The Lumatere Chronicles and An Ember in the Ashes. 

This is a slow, incredibly unique fantasy with great worldbuilding. I really enjoyed this book, especially the disease and poisons elements, and the fact that the main characters were a warrior and a healer. I liked their dynamic, too. I thought this was a stand alone, but I'll probably read the next book to see how their relationship develops. This has a lot of great elements too that makes me want to continue: the politics, the war, the different tribes of people, and the memorable characters. I'd definitely recommend it if you want a fantasy that isn't too fast, loud, or violent. This has a good balance of all that, but with slow moments too.

3.5 stars

Review: Mask of Shadows

Read if you like: fantasy worlds that are gender and sexuality inclusive, assassins, thieves, and to-the-death competitions.

Mask of Shadows | Linsey Miller

Series: Mask of Shadows

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Assassins
Released: August 29th 2017
Pages: 352
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

I Needed to Win.
They Needed to Die.

Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class—and the nobles who destroyed their home.

When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand—the Queen’s personal assassins, named after the rings she wears—Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge.

But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. And as Sal succeeds in the competition, and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only if they survive.

Hard to resist making my entire review about Ruby and HOW RUDE that ending was. He was my fave, thank you.

I was surprised by this book. It draws from familiar (slightly overdone) fantasy elements - assassin/thief, a contest) but does it in such a unique way. I loved the gemstone elements, the elite of assassins that is the Hand, and the genderfluid, queer main character. This book is exciting, dramatic, and full of dangers - and at the heart of it, grief and revenge. There's competition, romance, friendship, and plenty of murder. I really liked it.

4.5 stars

Review: The Marked Girl

Read if you like: stories that take a well-loved genre and mix it up, character-driven books, and so much awesome squeezed into one book.

The Marked Girl | Lindsey Klingele

Series: Marked Girl

Genre: YA Fantasy
Released: August 1st 2017
Pages: 416
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

Worlds collide in Lindsey Klingele’s young adult novel The Marked Girl, an exciting fantasy tale turned upside down.

Elissa Sussman, author of Stray, calls The Marked Girl “a magical debut with a big heart.”

When Cedric, crowned prince of Caelum, and his fellow royal friends (including his betrothed, Kat) find themselves stranded in modern-day L.A. via a magical portal and an evil traitor named Malquin, all they want to do is get home to Caelum—soon. Then they meet Liv, a filmmaker foster girl who just wants to get out of the system and on with her life. As she and Cedric bond, they’ll discover that she’s more connected to his world than they ever could’ve imagined…and that finding home is no easy task…

The Marked Girl has humor, heart, and harrowing adventures, perfect for fantasy lovers and reluctant fantasy readers alike. The paperback includes a teaser to the sequel, The Broken World. 

This book is so different to anything I've read.  Part urban fantasy, part secondary world fantasy, part something new. Pure awesome.

I love how normal Liv is, and how utterly abnormal a world she's thrown into: people from another world, near superheroes, killer Knights, and a hoarde of monsters. There's nothing missing from this book; it has great, memorable characters, fantasy world people struggling to cope with modern day (Kat trying to fathom Uber is my favourite thing), interesting dangers, some plot twists, a relatable MC, and a snarky, grumpy bae I want to keep. He's not the love interest (that's perfect, bland Cedric) but I hope he's more the focus in the next book.

Great from page one, this book takes surprising turn after surprising turn and I loved it. Will definitely continue this series!

4.5 stars

Review: The Last Namsara

Read if you like: secondary fantasy with interesting magic systems and beliefs, characters you can root for, and dragons.

The Last Namsara | Kristen Ciccarelli

Series: Iskari

Genre: YA High Fantasy
Released: October 3rd 2017
Pages: 432
Format: Ebook
Source: Publisher

In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death-bringer.

These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up learning in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl.

Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm. When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend—a slave boy from her betrothed’s household—Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her. 

This was not what I expected at all. I really like how the main character journeys from villain to hero, from dragon hunter to dragon rider. I could have done without the romance and I didn't love the rebel camp but there were elements I really liked. Character development is amazing, and I like the main character, as well as her cousin. The dragons were pretty awesome, too, though I wish they were more characters than they actually were.

I enjoyed the action and suspense, and this was a really good fantasy book with some memorable moments. The world didn't stand out but I think it'll be expanded on in later books. I liked it.

4.5 stars

The Forgotten (+giveaway)

So you may or may not know (you probably do; I rarely shut up about it) but my debut The Forgotten is now available for eBook download! And I have organised a blog tour to celebrate. The Forgotten is the first in a young adult Dystopian series. The Lux Guardians has hints of science fiction, post-apocalyptic, and historical fiction, and is set both in a future wreck of London and power-crazed London in the Victorian era.

It's available to download here, and in free paperback here. 

The summary is as follows:

Good and goodness will prevail.

Honour and Horatia Frie are twins living in a world of wreck and ruin.

Forgotten London is a dismal place of containment, rationing, and a four-family-per-house regulation. Twenty five years ago the world was set ablaze when solar flares obliterated three quarters of the Earth’s population and wiped out whole continents in one blow. The flares brought with them The Sixteen Strains: agonizing and fatal diseases that plague each of the forty one zones of Forgotten London and the rest of the world. The only places that escaped fatal damage were two countries now known as The Cities – States and Bharat. The rest of the world – The Forgotten Lands – is contained within borders for the people’s protection against even deadlier Strains outside the barrier. But fifteen year old Honour thinks differently. He thinks that they’re kept inside the fence for other, more menacing reasons. He thinks that States are planning to kill them.

Branwell and Bennet Ravel are twins living in a world of danger and secrecy.

In Victorian London, years before the solar flares hit, the Ravels’ world has just been turned upside down. Their father, poisoned by something even genius Branwell can’t determine, has passed away. His dying words were unnerving orders to keep each other safe no matter the cost, and to hide everything he has ever invented. When one of his creations goes missing – a device named The Lux that can generate unlimited energy – the twins are shocked to discover that their very own government has stolen it and, according to their father’s journals, are planning to use it to create unfathomable explosions to destroy their world.

The Ravel twins will have to find and reclaim The Lux if they are to stop their world’s planned destruction, but when they’re transported to an unfamiliar, derelict world, the search for the device will become harder than ever. Honour and Horatia, against all odds, will have to find a way to stop States before the remainder of Earth is eradicated and their world is lost for good, or somehow get every single citizen of Forgotten London outside of the fence.

HERE YOU WILL FIND AN EXCERPT FROM BOOK TWO.

If everything goes according to plan (i.e. if people don't pull out), the tour is as follows:

24 June http://theluxguardians.tumblr.com

25 June http://writeawaybliss.com

26 June http://bookshelfsophisticate.blogspot.co.uk/

27 June http://bloodsweatandbooks.blogspot.co.uk/

28 June http://piecesofwhimsy.blogspot.com.au/

29 June http://www.nicolesobon.blogspot.co.uk/

30 June http://kaylasreadsandreviews.blogspot.co.uk/

1 July http://whoaskedpaige.blogspot.co.uk/

2 July http://owlnestlyreviews.blogspot.co.uk/ 

3 July http://www.stephwonderland.blogspot.co.uk/

There are excerpts and an interview along the stops, as well as a giveaway to win a fancy-ass ARC of The Forgotten, and some really cool metal bookmarks!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

These are the bookmarks:

The Lux Guardians

So this post is all about that banner up there. The one above this post. The free book one. Yeah, that's the one.

You may or may not know (if you read the header ... you probably will) that I write young adult books. I write fantasy, sci-fi, and paranormal fiction. My debut, the first book in the Lux Guardians series, THE FORGOTTEN, is a young adult dystopian.

I'll put the blurb at the end of this post, but I wanted to talk about the other important thing about The Lux Guardians. The fact that it's free. I've always wanted to release a book for free. Reading is a form of escape, and a very common one. So many people turn to books to get away from their problems, to escape from real life, to immerse themselves in a world where they do not need to face or acknowledge anything from the 'real world'. 

I am one of those people, and though I have always been surrounded by books and the worlds tucked away inside their pages, sometimes I need a new world to run to. Sometimes, though familiarity is comforting, books you know by heart are not enough. Sometimes you need to read something unknown, to be caught up in the mystery, in not knowing what will happen next, and in a completely new setting with new characters.

But new books cost money. And young adults don't always have money. Hell - even adults don't always have money. But then there is no new book to turn to, no sanctuary to fall into. And that is why The Lux Guardians is free.

Also it's kind of going back to how stories were passed on through word of mouth, through family member after family member after family member. Stories were free then. My stories are free now. I'm sure eventually I'll need to publish my books through a publisher, that I'll need money to support and sustain myself, but for now my words are free. That being said, I do accept donations. So if you want to support me ... that's how!

Anyway, enough of that, here's the summary of The Forgotten:

Good and goodness will prevail.

Honour and Horatia Frie are twins living in a world of wreck and ruin. Forgotten London is a dismal place of containment, rationing, and a four-family-per-house regulation. 

Twenty five years ago the world was set ablaze when solar flares obliterated three quarters of the Earth’s population and wiped out whole continents in one blow. The flares brought with them The Sixteen Strains: agonizing and fatal diseases that plague each of the forty one zones of Forgotten London and the rest of the world. The only places that escaped fatal damage were two countries now known as The Cities – States and Bharat. The rest of the world – The Forgotten Lands – is contained within borders for the people’s protection against even deadlier Strains outside the barrier. But fifteen year old Honour thinks differently. He thinks that they’re kept inside the fence for other, more menacing reasons. He thinks that States are planning to kill them. 

Branwell and Bennet Ravel are twins living in a world of danger and secrecy.

In Victorian London, years before the solar flares hit, the Ravels’ world has just been turned upside down. Their father, poisoned by something even genius Branwell can’t determine, has passed away. His dying words were unnerving orders to keep each other safe no matter the cost, and to hide everything he has ever invented. When one of his creations goes missing – a device named The Lux that can generate unlimited energy – the twins are shocked to discover that their very own government has stolen it and, according to their father’s journals, are planning to use it to create unfathomable explosions to destroy their world.

The Ravel twins will have to find and reclaim The Lux if they are to stop their world’s planned destruction, but when they’re transported to an unfamiliar, derelict world, the search for the device will become harder than ever. Honour and Horatia, against all odds, will have to find a way to stop States before the remainder of Earth is eradicated and their world is lost for good, or somehow get every single citizen of Forgotten London outside of the fence.

The Forgotten will be released 20.06.13 in eBook, and 30.07.13 in paperback. For a paperback copy sign up to the waiting list.

If you made it to the end of this post, and read the entire thing, you should be knighted. Thank you.