Category Archives: Fantasy

Review: Aisle Nine by Ian X. Cho

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
Aisle Nine by Ian X. Cho

Aisle Nine
Ian X. Cho
HarperCollins
Published September 24, 2024

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About Aisle Nine

“It’s Black Friday—and the apocalypse is on sale!

Ever since the world filled with portals to hell and bloodthirsty demons started popping out on the reg, Jasper’s life has gotten worse and worse. A teenage nobody with no friends or family, he is plagued by the life he can’t remember and the person he’s sure he’s supposed to be.

Jasper spends his days working as a checkout clerk at the Here For You discount mart, where a hell portal in aisle nine means danger every shift. But at least here he can be near the girl he’s crushing on—Kyle Kuan, a junior member of the monster-fighting Vanguard—who seems to hate Jasper for reasons he can’t remember or understand.

But when Jasper and Kyle learn they both share a frightening vision of the impending apocalypse, they’re forced to team up and uncover the uncomfortable truth about the hell portals and the demons that haunt the world. Because the true monsters are not always what they seem, the past is not always what we wish, and like it or not, on Black Friday, all hell will break loose in aisle nine.

Perfect for fans of Grasshopper Jungle or The Last of Us comes Aisle Nine, the debut young adult novel from rising YA star lan X. Cho.

My Review

Reading a book about the apocalypse that’s weird and funny was a lot of fun. This isn’t the kind of book I’d normally find myself drawn to. The balance of humor and high-stakes drama of the apocalypse definitely had me intrigued.

Jasper’s amnesia made him an interesting character in that he continued to look for clues about his previous life. His nightmares about the portals, his relationship with Lara, the cat-who-is-not-a-cat, and his awkward connection to Kyle offer a lot of threads for him to unravel as the story progresses.

While some of the moments of tension resolve quickly, the story rockets Jasper into one dangerous situation after another. I found it easy to keep reading from one chapter to another. The book is also on the shorter side of young adult fantasy, at 260 pages.

I think readers who enjoy apocalyptic stories paired with humor, especially in the cast of goofy characters, will love this one. It reminds me of the end-of-the-world movies from the 90s.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Kyle’s parents are from Taiwan.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some f-bombs and profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Portals from the abyss have opened up at various points worldwide. These are often referred to as portals from hell, and the monsters that emerge are referred to as demons. Four powerful beings are referred to as the horsemen (a reference to the four horsemen of the apocalypse from the Bible.) Beyond the use of those names, there’s no real connection to Christian theology.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some scenes include graphic violence as monsters attack people and soldiers fight back. The monsters sometimes have an almost comical appearance. At other times, they more closely resemble nightmare material.

Drug Content
In one scene, a mercenary reports that soldiers are often required to take medication meant to combat narcolepsy when they work long shifts. Someone else takes it to stay awake while they work.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

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A Fragile Enchantment
Allison Saft
Wednesday Books
Published January 30, 2024

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About A Fragile Enchantment

In this romantic fantasy of manners from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft, a magical dressmaker commissioned for a royal wedding finds herself embroiled in scandal when a gossip columnist draws attention to her undeniable chemistry with the groom.

Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.

Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A Fragile Enchantment is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue, unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages.

My Review

I’ve been a fan of Allison Saft’s books since her debut, DOWN COMES THE NIGHT. She is so good at delivering intricate story worlds and complicated characters navigating some kind of mysterious circumstances. In A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT, a tailor who can imbue the clothes she makes with magic and a younger prince fight their growing attraction to one another as an entire kingdom seems ready to crumble around them.

It’s got a bit of a grumpy vs. sunshine vibe, which I really enjoyed. The story also explores chronic illness and addiction pretty openly. Neither of those is often explored in fantasy novels, so that was nice to see.

The romantic arc absolutely hooked me. I read this book in two sessions because I really could not stop thinking about it and needed to know how it would end. I loved the directions the story took, especially the ones I hadn’t anticipated. There were a couple of times that things took me by surprise. That was fun.

All in all, I had a fabulous time reading this book, and I’m as big an Allison Saft fan as ever. I’m already excited about whatever story she has coming up next. I think fans of Kiera Cass would like this book a lot.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Regency-England inspired. Some people groups seem to be inspired by Spanish or Irish people. The main character had a past relationship with a girl. Some characters are interested in same-sex relationships, but it’s stigmatized in their society. One character is an alcoholic in recovery. Another is chronically ill.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Kissing between two girls. One scene contains explicit sexual content.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. This is passed down in families from the old days when the Fair Ones walked among people.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. One character can control plants and threatens violence through them. Another can control lightning and tries to kill someone.

Drug Content
One character is a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for a year. In several scenes, people around him drink alcohol. Sometimes, people make disparaging remarks about his drinking or assume he is drunk again.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

MMGM Review: Squire & Knight: Wayward Travelers by Scott Chantler

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Squire & Knight: Wayward Travelers (Squire & Knight #2)
Scott Chantler
First Second
Published October 15, 2024

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About Squire & Knight: Wayward Travelers

In the second volume of this middle-grade graphic novel series, our heroes search for the mysterious school of wizardry, but are thwarted at every turn by thick mist, winding woods and fearsome creatures!

Our heroes are lost.

Squire and Sir Kelton have promised to get Cade to the school of wizardry. Strangely though, the path they’ve taken has brought them into a bewildering, misty forest, rife with fearsome gnolls and a boisterous rival knight. To get them out, Squire tries every trick in the book, but books don’t hold all the answers. Can he muster up his confidence, remember his duties, and find a way to escape the forest?

My Review

This fun continuation of the Squire & Knight series delivers more of the humor and thoughtfulness from the first book. One of the things I liked a lot is that this is a different story from the first one. In the first book, the squire uses intelligence to figure out whether a dragon is the true source of a village’s problems. In this book, the squire still depends on intelligence and things he learned from books to aid him when he’s in trouble, but the story points up the fact that not every problem can be solved that way. And, intelligent people are as vulnerable to overlooking things out of pride as strong people are.

This story has a small cast of characters, with a few notable new ones. Cade, the boy that Sir Kelton has promised to accompany to Wizard School, is a cute character who adds a lot to the story. He seems in awe of Sir Kelton at first, but as the journey continues, he adds many of his own observations to the story. I liked him and especially enjoyed the surprising comments he made later in the book.

I’m still a fan of the series, and I’m excited to see what adventures Squire and Sir Kelton get up to next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Human characters are white. There are some monster characters each based on a different breed of dog.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The story contains fantasy characters and monsters. Some monsters believe they need to sacrifice captives to appease their god.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A group of dog-like monsters threaten to kill and eat their captives.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.

Review: We Are Hunted by Tomi Oyemakinde

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We Are Hunted
Tomi Oyemakinde
MacMillan Children’s
Published August 29, 2024

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About We Are Hunted

The White Lotus meets Jurassic Park in We Are Hunted by Tomi Oyemakinde, a compulsive speculative thriller about the lengths we go to for power – and to survive.

When seventeen-year-old Femi and his brother accompany their father on a top-secret business trip to a remote and mysterious island, they are looking forward to a summer they’ll never forget.

Filled with spectacular species of animal and out-of-this-world technology, the island resort welcomes them with open arms, as does its impressive curator Richard Jenkins. But beneath the sparkle and the wonder, the island is hiding a terrible secret – and it’s biding its time. When the unthinkable happens and the island is put on lockdown, Femi realizes he is somehow at the centre of an operation that seeks to expose Jenkins’ resort for what it really is.

But the truth comes with a price. And when the bodies start to fall, Femi must decide who on the island he can trust with his life – and how far he will go to survive.

My Review

This novel begins fast and keeps a brisk pace throughout. I definitely see the comparison to Jurassic Park, though I like the characters in We Are Hunted better than those in Crichton’s novel. The unresolved conflict between Femi and his family and Femi and Deja add layers of interest to the story. The crisis brings them closer together but simultaneously highlights the rifts in the relationships. That kept me even more engaged.

The story has the high sense of creepiness and tension you’d expect in a thriller, too. Several scenes had me on the edge of my seat. Because of the nature of the story, there’s quite a bit of gore as Femi witnesses several people’s injuries and deaths and stumbles over the remains of others.

There are a couple of chapters that show scenes from another character’s perspective. While that added some interest or context to those characters, I think that information could have been inserted into the narrative in other ways. I appreciated that they were set apart as “interlude” scenes.

Femi is a musician, and there are lots of references to sound and sensitivity to sound throughout the book, which adds some interesting details. I liked the references to his music and the way that sound impacts different components of the story.

On the whole, I think readers looking for an international thriller will not want to miss this one. I flew through this book. It’s really easy to read. I probably would have read it in one session if I’d had the time to do it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Representation
Femi has tinnitus. Several characters are Black and British.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One f-bomb. Infrequent use of other profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Femi goes on a date with a girl.

Spiritual Content
References to prayer and Bible verses.

Violent Content
Graphic descriptions of injuries and death.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Seasons of Flesh and Flame by A. G. Howard

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Seasons of Flesh and Flame (Shades of Rust and Ruin #2)
A. G. Howard
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published

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About Seasons of Flesh and Flame

New York Times bestselling author A.G. Howard concludes her dark, compelling YA fantasy series about twins separated by a family curse.

Nix Loring stepped into Mystiquel to face the Goblin King and break her family’s curse. When she found her twin, Lark, held captive for three years and forced to power the magical realm with her imagination, Nix offered herself up in her sister’s place.

Now, Nix wants nothing more than to be home with the people she loves. Instead, she’s tasked to create beauty from a world fallen to desolation. She finds herself drawn to the faerie creatures under her care—and even reluctantly drawn to the Goblin King himself. But how can she rebuild the very realm that tore her family apart?

Back home, her uncle and boyfriend desperately plan a rescue. But Lark, having learned Nix was meant to be the Goblin King’s captive in the first place, resents how her twin stole everything belonging to her during her absence. Worse yet, Lark harbors an unspeakable secret that could destroy what little she has left.

As time draws closer to the rescue, Lark grapples with the darkness growing inside: should she help save her sister, or finally get her revenge?

Set in a gritty, atmospheric world filled with magical creatures, New York Times bestselling author A.G. Howard concludes her thrilling fantasy duology full of romance, twists, and betrayals.

My Review

I love that this series is a duology. When I started reading book one, I thought the series would be a trilogy. Trilogies are great, but a duology is so much more manageable for me to read.

In my review of the first book in the duology, Shades of Rust and Ruin, I noted that I’d expected more romance based on the cover copy, but the tale was more focused on the relationship between the sisters. That focus holds true in this second book, too.

What’s different about Seasons of Flesh and Flame, though, is that it follows both sisters’ perspectives. I loved that. I also liked that Lark, who we only met at the end of the first book, isn’t the benevolent sister we expected based on Nix’s memories of her. She’s got her own agenda and fresh trauma to work through.

The romance subplots (there’s one for each sister) remain very sidelined. There are a few references to how the girls feel for the boys they love, and the end brings resolution to the relationships, but even there, it’s not really the focus.

A lot of the story takes place in the Mystiquel landscape. It’s lush, strange, and capricious. I enjoyed how the events there kept me on my toes.

If you’re looking for a fall read that’s more atmospherically spooky than actually creepy, you might want to give this series a try. There is one element that might be considered body horror that I’ll detail below.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Clarey (love interest) has dark brown skin and a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA). He also has anxiety and panic attacks. Lark uses a prosthetic hand when her hand disappears.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A fire burns down a bakery. Some cartoonish creatures attack Nix and her allies. A girl relies on prosthetics when her hand disappears.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Dragon’s Flight by Jessica Day George

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Dragon Flight (Dragon Slippers #2)
Jessica Day George
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published April 29, 2008

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About Dragon Flight

The second book in New York Times bestselling author Jessica Day George’s charming, light-hearted fantasy series.

With the Dragon Wars over, Creel finds herself bored with life as a seamstress. Then word comes that a bordering country has been breeding dragons in preparation for an invasion. Never one to miss out on the action, Creel throws herself headlong into an adventure that will reunite her with Shardas, the king of the dragons, pit her against a vicious new dragon, and perhaps rekindle a friendship with Prince Luka.

Funny, heartfelt, and action-packed, new readers and returning fans alike will dive headlong into this exhilarating follow-up to Dragon Slippers.

My Review

I recently reread Dragon Slippers (though it was like a fresh read, since I remembered almost nothing from my original reading), and discovered that Creel and Shardas’s adventures continue in this and another book. Since I have access to the audiobooks through my library, and I needed something lighter to read over the summer, I decided to finish the series.

A lot of the characters from the first book reappear here in the second one. (Including one goofy monkey seller.) We also get to know the dragon characters more, and see the progression of Creel and Luka’s relationship.

What’s really interesting to me is that the cover art and copy age Creel down quite a bit. In the story, she is running her own business and preparing for her business partner’s wedding. I can’t remember if the text specifies Creel’s age, but I’d guess she’s probably fifteen or sixteen.

The writing feels very middle grade, though, so I think the book is marketed appropriately, it’s just interesting that the book description and cover age the story itself down a bit. For example, Creel isn’t just friends with Prince Luka– there’s definitely some romance happening there, though it stays very sweet and a small component of the story.

Readers who enjoy dragon books will find a lot to love here. The dragons play a bigger role in this book than in the first one and appear in a majority of the scenes. This is a sweet, fun series for upper middle grade readers or middle grade readers interested in stories with a little romance.

Readers who enjoyed Goose Girl by Shannon Hale should check out this series.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
One prominent character speaks through sign language.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Creel’s best friend is engaged to be married.

Spiritual Content
Some characters are dragons. A few characters use alchemy, which operates like magic through potions or special objects.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some brief references to and scenes showing battle. Creel wants to punch more than one person in the face, but she wisely resists.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.