Category Archives: Fantasy

Review: The Last Best Quest Ever by F. T. Lukens

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The Last Best Quest Ever by F. T. Lukens

The Last Best Quest Ever
F. T. Lukens
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published May 26, 2026

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About The Last Best Quest Ever

A fraudulent teen quester must team up with a brooding, royal rival on a perilous adventure to save her brother’s life in this cozy young adult romantasy full of mythical creatures by the New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This is Ever After.

Seventeen-year-old Ellinore has the best questing record of anyone in the kingdom’s history. She also has a secret: her fame is built entirely on lies. Tired of the charade, she shocks the kingdom by retiring at a royal feast. But her plans for a quiet life are disrupted when her twin brother Zig bets his life that Ellinore can retrieve the horn of the mythical Elder Beast. To save Zig, she reluctantly sets out on one last, perilous quest.

Accompanying her are Zig, determined to help despite his recklessness; Aven, her envious rival eager to prove their superiority; an ambitious bar maiden turned adventurer; and a young, magic-wielding bard. Together, they face an arduous journey fraught with mythical challenges and shifting alliances. As they search for the Elder Beast, Ellinore grapples with her growing feelings for Aven, her fear of losing Zig, and her identity as a reluctant hero.

With time running out, Ellinore must confront not only the legendary creature but also her own truths. Can she save her brother, embrace her potential, and finally decide her path?

My Review

This was my most-anticipated read for 2026, so I was delighted to get a free copy from the publisher. I’ve been a huge fan of the author’s books since I first read Spell Bound in 2023. I think all three of their books that I’ve read would be considered contemporary fantasy, so I was excited to try this more traditional fantasy story. Though the story doesn’t make any overt Dungeons and Dragons references, it very much felt like the kind of quest one might play.

I grew up reading Blue Moon Rising by Simon R. Green, and though this story is more on the cozy side of fantasy, some of the humor reminded me of that book. I love a fantasy that pokes fun at genre tropes, and Lukens does that beautifully, if more subtly here.

The romance between Ellinore and Aven develops believably. It takes some time for Ellinore to recognize the feelings she’s having about Aven, and then it takes time for the two to actually talk about or acknowledge their feelings, but things roll out in a satisfying way.

I wish that the whole confrontation to acquire the horn of the Elder Beast had a little more going on in it. I won’t say it was anti-climactic, but it definitely kept to the cozy fantasy landscape rather than building to a peak of tension. The confrontation between Ellinore’s party and the mages toward the end of the book is really funny, though. I appreciated the humor in that scene and the tension that built up in that moment quite a bit.

All in all, I would say this only further cements my love for Lukens’ books. I think I have copies of the two they’ve written that I haven’t read, so hopefully I’ll get to those soon.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Mythical creatures and the use of magic. Some creatures are deities and created others. There’s a simple heirarchy in the story that’s very easy to follow.

Violent Content
Situations of peril and brief battle violence. It’s all pretty PG level.

Drug Content
References to visiting a tavern where people are presumably drinking alcohol, though none of the main characters do this.

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: The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz

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The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Deya Muniz
Little, Brown and Company
Published May 9, 2023

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About The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich

A funny, heartfelt YA romance about finding love—and lots of grilled cheese sandwiches—in the place you least expect it, from rising talent Deya Muniz.

Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: She disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert.

But it’s hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can’t resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she able to keep her secret?

A romantic comedy about mistaken identity, true love, and lots of grilled cheese.

My Review

As a pretty devoted cheese fan, I really enjoyed this playful book. The character names and places are all cheeses or cheese-related. I loved the emphasis on grilled cheese.

I also like that the story explores Cam’s choice to live publicly as a man as a complicated experience. It begins as a necessity for her financial survival and ultimately becomes a vehicle through which she influences others and finds love.

The illustrations, like the story, have a really playful feel to them. I love the images that show details about fashion and how the Princess uses fashion as a part of her activism. The color palettes of both main characters– soft pinks and light colors for Princess Brie and bolder, darker colors for Count Camembert– contrasted well and balanced nicely on the pages.

Overall, I had a great time reading this one. I would absolutely pass this book to anyone who enjoyed The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used once.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two characters fall in love. References to women needing to marry to rule or inherit wealth.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Danger of Small Things by Caryl Lewis

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

The Danger of Small Things
Caryl Lewis
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published March 24, 2026

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About The Danger of Small Things

Set in a world where bees are at risk of extinction, this startling YA dystopian is perfect for fans of Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now and Sarah Crossan, described by the author as a love letter to her daughter. 

Imagine a world where honeybees have died out. It’s a patriarchal world where famines are rife. It’s a world without art, without books, without plays. Girls are sent away from home, forced to pollinate crops by hand with brushes and to marry as soon as they can. Inhabiting this world is Jess and her friends Cass, Deva, and Ruth. But even if one fourteen‑year‑old knows that brushes weren’t invented for pollinating, can she really stoke a revolution?

Caryl Lewis: ‘As a beekeeper, I am acutely aware of the interconnectedness of everything and have long been frightened of how we, as humans, set ourselves apart from nature. We do not seem to understand that in destroying nature, we destroy ourselves. My daughter is growing up in what feels like a much more hostile environment facing climate instability, the rise of misogyny and the roll back of women’s bodily rights. I wanted to comfort and empower her and let her see that our greatest weapon in a floundering world is the imagination.’

My Review

I’m really fascinated by the fact that the author is herself a beekeeper, and that her experience inspired the story. Certainly, exploring the extinction of bees and its impact on global food supply is a timely one. In this story, Lewis connects this with a society that uses the food shortage to create a government system that uses its girls and women as labor before pressuring them into a life of raising the next generation of laborers.

Some elements of the story left me wanting more information about the larger world beyond the town where Jess lived. Where did the leaders go when they left the village? Who did they trade with?

I was a bit worried about Jess’s relationship with the guard. I think she was supposed to be thirteen or fourteen, and he was seventeen or eighteen. Nothing romantic happens between the two of them, though, and it doesn’t seem like Jess thinks of him in that way.

All in all, I think the concept of this book is very relevant. I could see readers who enjoy dystopian fiction liking this one a lot.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to kissing. Vague references to sexual abuse. (Not shown on the page.)

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to riots and political unrest. Some instances of homophobia.

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: Charmed and Dangerous by Shelly Page

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Charmed and Dangerous
Shelly Page
Joy Revolution
Published March 24, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Charmed and Dangerous

A teen mystic will do anything to solve a series of love-related magical mishaps plaguing her high school, including fake dating her boss’s daughter, in this charming sapphic romance.

Magic lingers in the cozy town of Fair Glen, Illinois, and it’s up to the agents at the Bureau of Mystical Affairs to keep it in check. Monroe Bennett, a junior recruit at the Bureau, is ready to ace her first tracking down the source of a rogue love charm.

Protecting her charmed classmates, including the bureau director’s daughter Iris James, is top priority. But when Iris asks Monroe to fake date her to make her ex jealous, things get complicated. 

Monroe believes in duty, not romance. Yet the more time she spends with Iris, the harder it is to ignore the very real sparks flying between them. Can Monroe protect herself from love long enough to solve this case, or will her growing feelings get in the way?

My Review

This is the cutest book. I love how the premise involves these goofy charmed objects gone wrong and this serious government agency (Think Men in Black, but for magic gone awry) stopping them.

The romance has a hint of grumpy-sunshine vibes, which I find endearing. I like that each girl has something to learn through the course of the story, though. It’s not simply a tale about a girl who doesn’t like romance learning that love is pretty amazing. Iris also has to learn some things about the difference between romance and love.

The magical items going haywire add a lot of comedy to the scenes and keep things light. The romance develops at a good pace, which also made this a really fun read.

I liked that the story features an inclusive cast and adds complexity to the characters’ relationships with their parents without letting those relationships dominate the story. I loved Monroe and Iris as a couple, so it was easy to root for them from their first scene together.

If you like contemporary fantasy or romantic comedy, I highly recommend this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Charmed objects use magic for convenience or havoc. Even the helpful charms can go awry as they degrade over time. When used inappropriately, charms can harm others.

Violent Content
Situations of peril.

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: Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , ,

Impossible Creatures (Impossible Creatures #1)
Katherine Rundell
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published September 10, 2024

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About Impossible Creatures

The day Christopher saved a drowning baby griffin from a hidden lake would change his life forever. It’s the day he learned about the Archipelago, a cluster of unmapped islands where magical creatures of every kind have thrived for thousands of years—until now. And it’s the day he met Mal, a girl on the run who desperately needs his help.

Mal and Christopher embark on a wild adventure, racing from island to island, searching for someone who can explain why the magic is fading and why magical creatures are suddenly dying. They consult sphinxes, battle kraken, and negotiate with dragons. But the closer they get to the dark truth of what’s happening, the clearer it becomes: no one else can fix this. If the Archipelago is to be saved, Mal and Christopher will have to do it themselves.

My Review

Every time I see this book, I pick it up, intent on dropping everything and reading it just then. I finally ended up borrowing a copy from the library and squeezing it into my reading schedule, and I’m so glad I did.

This book didn’t feel long at all. I loved the descriptions of magical creatures (be aware that an important one dies in the book), and the different roles they play in the story. I was fascinated by the opening, in which we meet Christopher, a boy who has a special gift with animals. Everywhere he goes, animals seem to crowd around him. I liked how that ties into his role in the story.

Christopher and Mal end up with a small crew of people helping them, and I liked each one of them. It was interesting that not all of the people helping them are doing so for benevolent reasons. In some ways that made the story feel more realistic.

There are some sad moments in the story that I’m still not okay about. Haha. They made sense in the larger context of the story, but I’m still upset that they happened.

The second book in the series came out in September 2025, but I’m not sure how long it’ll take me to get to it. I want to read it, but I’m not sure I’m ready to move on to a new story in that universe, if that makes sense.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Two instances of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to romantic love.

Spiritual Content
Magical creatures exist in a fantastical land, but the magic is fading and the are creatures disappearing or dying. The back of the book contains an illustrated glossary of magical creatures.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A man chases a child, intent on killing her. He kills someone else who gets in his way. Brief battle violence in a fight between people and dangerous magical creatures. Death of an animal. Death of a child.

Drug Content
A character must drink a dangerous potion that at first causes them to be sick and unable to walk.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Grandpere’s Ghost Swamp by Rachel M. Marsh

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Grandpere’s Ghost Swamp
Rachel M. Marsh
Greenwillow Books
Published March 24, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Grandpere’s Ghost Swamp

Ferris meets Ghosts of Tupelo Landing in this cozy ghost story about family, environmental activism, food, and friendship.

Basil Theriot has spent her entire life in New Orleans—in her family’s famed Cajun restaurant in the French Quarter, really—but she’s never been out to the bayou where her grandfather grew up. She’s also never seen a ghost, even though dozens of ghost tours pass by the restaurant every day and her best friend Tommy is determined to be a ghost hunter.

But then Grandpere’s ghost appears. And he has a mission for her.

Basil wouldn’t mind being haunted if Grandpere could be helpful and share his secret recipe that might save the restaurant. But instead, he’s intent on connecting Basil with her Cajun heritage. He sends her out to the bayou to meet his an airboat captain, a shrimper, and a scientist rebuilding Louisiana’s fast-disappearing coastline.

For fans of Gracie Under the Waves and A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall, Grandpere’s Ghost Swamp has a little bit of a pinch of spookiness, a dash of environmental activism, and a heaping of family.

My Review

This is definitely one of those books where the disparate threads all come together nicely in the end. In a way, it reminded me of Once For Yes by Allie Millington. I adored the Louisiana setting. Some of the characters made me think of my partner’s family members, who are from Louisiana. His family is also Cajun, so that was a fun connection to the story as well.

It was interesting to read a book in which the main character is surrounded by people who love food and cooking, yet she has strong negative feelings about them. Basil’s perspective about the family restaurant makes a lot of sense, and it makes sense that she would have such strong conflicted feelings about her future, since she feels the family needs her to be as invested in the restaurant as they are.

I like how her relationship with her grandfather’s ghost propels the story in unexpected ways. While Grandpere clearly has something important to resolve, his presence helps Basil in ways she wouldn’t have predicted. I like that she learns a lot about him and about herself through the experience.

Grandpere’s Ghost Swamp celebrates strong family connections across generations and a love for the natural world. Give this book to fans of Elsie Mae Has Something to Say by Nancy Cavanaugh and Nowhere Better Than Here by Sarah Guillory.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Basil sees the ghost of her grandfather, who recently passed away. She eventually sees other ghosts as well.

Violent Content
A kid gets in trouble for throwing salt all over a classroom when what he thinks is a ghost appears. An argument escalates into a food fight.

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.