Category Archives: Fantasy

Review: Wings of Fury by Emily R. King

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
Wings of Fury by Emily R King

Wings of Fury (Wings of Fury #1)
Emily R. King
47North
Published March 1, 2021

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About Wings of Fury

Cronus, God of Gods, whose inheritance is the world. Among his possessions: women, imprisoned and fated to serve. The strong-minded Althea Lambros controls her own fate and lives to honor her dying mother’s plea to protect her two sisters at all costs. Althea’s journey toward crushing the tyranny has begun. It is a destiny foretold by the Fates. And she is following their visions.

On the southern isle of Crete, hidden among mortal women who have fled the Titans, is the Boy God, son of Cronus and believed dead. He shares Althea’s destiny to vanquish the Almighty—fate willing. Because Cronus has caught wind of the plot. He’s amassing his own forces against Althea’s righteous rebellion and all those who will no longer surrender or run. There will be war. If she’s to survive to write their history, the indomitable Althea must soar higher than any god.

My Review

I’m beginning to realize I consistently don’t enjoy certain writing styles. WINGS OF FURY has a lot of really cool elements to it, but it’s written in a kind of internal narrative style without a lot of dialogue. It’s harder for me to really fall in love with a book written that way– not because it’s bad, just personal preference.

Still, the book has a lot of great and interesting elements. It takes place in a fiercely oppressive world in which women have few rights and treated by men as property to be claimed. A girl like Althea, the story’s narrator, can’t help but upset the system in a world like that. She’s bold and strong and unafraid. Her fierce love for her sisters and her promise to her mother to protect them means she’ll face any threat– even the god of gods, Cronos, to keep them safe.

I liked Althea’s fierceness and her love for her sisters. I’m a huge fan of sister stories in general, so that part of the story alone probably would have landed this book high on my reading list. I’m glad I read the book– I liked the mythological retelling and the way the pieces all came together in the end.

Though Althea is a young narrator, probably seventeen or so, I’d say this is more adult fiction with some crossover appeal to teen readers. Check the section below for notes on content.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Main characters are Greek.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to sex. References to rape and torture. A man can claim a woman to belong to him by having her tattooed. She is not allowed to refuse. Two women kiss. Kissing and sexual touching between a boy and girl. Some nudity.

Spiritual Content
Gods and goddesses are characters in the story.

Violent Content
Several scenes show and reference women abused by men. Some women cut their own faces to try to make themselves less appealing to men.

Drug Content
Wine and nectar (also causes drunkenness) are consumed socially and at feasts.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of WINGS OF FURY in exchange for my honest review.

Cover Reveal: The Curse of the Midnight King by Yakira Goldsberry

Fantasy, News and Fun, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

The Curse of the Midnight King Cover Reveal

I have something a little different today– the gorgeous cover of The Curse of the Midnight King is finally ready to share. I first heard about this book on Twitter, and I’ve been excited about it ever since. I love fairytale mashups, and I’ve never seen these two put together before. One of the fairytales gets retold a lot, but the other I’ve only seen a couple of times, and it’s one of my favorites. The Curse of the Midnight King will be released by IlluminateYA in November 2021 and it looks like such a great book! Read on for the description and then check out the gorgeous cover.

About The Curse of the Midnight King by Yakira Goldsberry

Amazon | Bookshop | Christian Book Distributors

Can she break the curse in time to save her sisters? She may conquer more than the Midnight King; she may learn to conquer herself.

Three years ago, Faye and her sisters were cursed by the Midnight King. Now, separated and alone, Faye only sees her sisters when she is dragged into the Underworld every full moon at midnight, and forced to dance with Pathos, the Midnight King himself. And Faye knows that their curse is her fault.

When the king of Eura announces a series of balls being held in the honor of his son, Prince Leo, Faye realizes she may now have a chance to help her and her sisters escape the curse. But things aren’t easy. For Pathos is determined to keep Faye in the Underworld with him.

In this retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses and Cinderella, Faye must sacrifice herself to save her sisters, or risk them being trapped in the Underworld forever, suffering from the curse she helped create.

About Yakira Goldsberry

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Yakira Goldsberry started writing at the age of eight, when she first discovered the power of words. She has since then buried herself in the magical worlds of fiction–and has yet to return. Working as a book reviewer by day and an author by night, Goldsberry lives with her family on the East Coast. Her one mission in life–set the world afire with truth.

Review: The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He

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The Ones We’re Meant to Find
Joan He
Roaring Book
Published May 4, 2021

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About The Ones We’re Meant to Find

Cee has been trapped on an abandoned island for three years without any recollection of how she arrived, or memories from her life prior. All she knows is that somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, she has a sister named Kay. Determined to find her, Cee devotes her days to building a boat from junk parts scavenged inland, doing everything in her power to survive until the day she gets off the island and reunites with her sister.

In a world apart, 16-year-old STEM prodigy Kasey Mizuhara is also living a life of isolation. The eco-city she calls home is one of eight levitating around the world, built for people who protected the planet―and now need protecting from it. With natural disasters on the rise due to climate change, eco-cities provide clean air, water, and shelter. Their residents, in exchange, must spend at least a third of their time in stasis pods, conducting business virtually whenever possible to reduce their environmental footprint. While Kasey, an introvert and loner, doesn’t mind the lifestyle, her sister Celia hated it. Popular and lovable, Celia much preferred the outside world. But no one could have predicted that Celia would take a boat out to sea, never to return.

Now it’s been three months since Celia’s disappearance, and Kasey has given up hope. Logic says that her sister must be dead. But as the public decries her stance, she starts to second guess herself and decides to retrace Celia’s last steps. Where they’ll lead her, she does not know. Her sister was full of secrets. But Kasey has a secret of her own.

My Review

Sisters and secrets– two of my favorite things in a book! I had been hearing about this book online for a long time, and could not resist reading it. The story, like the back cover copy suggests, gives each sister’s point of view. In Kasey’s point of view, we see the past, things that happened months before Cee begins telling her story.

I loved both girls’ characters so much. I also loved U-me, the dictionary and questionnaire rating robot. It might not seem like a bot that follows Cee around defining words and rating her declarative statements on a scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree would add a huge amount to the story, but it really does! U-me is the best.

As the description promises, this is a story with twists and turns, the kind where you have to keep going back and reevaluating things you took for granted earlier in the book. Where new information changes your perception of what’s already happened. I love stories like that. It’s also a story that explores relationships and secrets and how some secrets can destroy a relationship if you let them.

I really enjoyed THE ONES WE’RE MEANT TO FIND. I loves its layers and the pull between the two sisters. Readers who enjoyed WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart or FRAGILE REMEDY by Maria Ingrande Mora should check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Both main characters are Asian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some nudity. Kissing between boy and girl. Two scenes give brief descriptions of sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A boy stops a thief by attacking him. A girl gets injured in the episode. A boy tries to choke someone. References to a terrorist attack.

Drug Content
Some descriptions of drinking and using drugs (though they appear to be legal drugs) at a bar and party.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THE ONES WE’RE MEANT TO FIND in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Sky Breaker by Addie Thorley

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

Sky Breaker (Night Spinner #2)
Addie Thorley
Page Street Kids
Published May 4, 2021

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About Sky Breaker

Enebish has been deceived by everyone she once considered a friend. On the run across the tundra, her only allies are her best friend Serik and a band of ill-tempered shepherds. Her only hope of bringing peace to Ashkar is to unite the people of the Protected Territories and make a stand against the tyrannical Sky King and the hostile nation of Zemya. But that’s easier said than done. As supplies dwindle, the shepherds become far more desperate for food than freedom.

Meanwhile, Zemyan forces have stormed the Ashkarian capital. Imperial Army Commander Ghoa throws all of her power into a last-ditch effort to save her king, only to be abandoned by her fellow warriors. Held captive in a prison forged of magic and tortured by the zealous sorcerer Kartok, Ghoa learns his true ambitions lie far beyond the warring countries—he wants vengeance on the gods themselves.

The war between Ashkar and Zemya began centuries ago as a feud amongst the gods. Now it’s up to the two most hated people on the continent—the monstrous outcast, Enebish, and the notorious war criminal, Ghoa—to heal that spiritual divide before Kartok brings the skies crashing down on all of them.

My Review

After reading and enjoying the first book in this duology, NIGHT SPINNER, I knew I wanted to read this book. I love that in it we get both Enebish and Ghoa’s points of view. I liked following both of them and seeing how their stories wove together in the end.

One of the things I struggled with, though, was that the first 150 pages or so are kind of bleak. Enebish is frustrated and resistant. Ghoa is bitter and angry. While their feelings were understandable, it left me feeling like the story dragged and I had a hard time pushing past that.

Sometime around that 150 or 200 page mark, though, things began to shift. Enebish began to see things differently, to see how she needed to change. And Ghoa began to have goals that didn’t involve murdering everyone on sight. That’s where, for me, the story started to build a lot of power and draw me in.

Those early chapters do serve a purpose– we needed to know that Enebish and Ghoa both are resisting changes that they need to embrace, and that though they don’t see the consequences as fair (and sometimes they’re not truly fair, but understandable), we see the consequences as fair. I guess I just found myself wondering if that could have been done effectively in fewer pages.

One of the things I loved about SKY BREAKER, though, is that it’s a faith-positive story. Enebish believes devoutly in the Lady and the Father, a goddess and god team who created everything and bestowed magic on her people. Two characters previously skeptical of her faith eventually come to celebrate their own faith, too.

I also loved that the core relationship that the story revolves around is the relationship between Enebish and Ghoa, whom En thinks of as her sister. While there is a side romance in in the story, it’s this relationship, especially in the second half of the book, that takes center stage. I loved that.

On the whole, I enjoyed reading the book, and I really enjoyed the relationships and faith-positive storytelling. I think readers who enjoyed GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson will want to check out this duology.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Enebish and Serik are described as having bronze skin. Characters from Zemya are pale-skinned with white-blond hair.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Curses include things like, “Skies.”

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Enebish believes in and prays to the Lady and the Father, a goddess and god team. People from Zemya believe in Lady and the Father’s daughter Zemya. There’s a long-standing quarrel between Zemya and her parents. The story as a whole is really faith-positive and celebrates faith.

Violent Content
Some scenes show physical and mental torture. Multiple scenes show battles with injuries. Some brief but graphic descriptions.

Drug Content
One person appears to have a medication that heals but also binds that person to him through magic.

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

Review: The Firebird Song by Arnée Flores

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The Firebird Song
Arnée Flores
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Published June 8, 2021

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About The Firebird Song

The Kingdom of Lyrica was once warm and thriving, kept safe by the Firebird, whose feather and song was a blessing of peace and prosperity. But the Firebird disappeared, and Lyrica is now terrorized by the evil Spectress who wields her powers from within a volcano. All that remains is a mysterious message scrawled on the castle wall in the Queen’s own hand: Wind. Woman. Thief.

Young Prewitt has only known time without the Firebird, a life of constant cold, as his village is afraid to tempt the volcano monsters with even the feeblest fire. But he has heard whispers that the kingdom’s princess survived the attack . . . and he is certain that if he can find her, together they can save Lyrica.

Princess Calliope has no memories beyond living on her barge on the underground lake. But as she nears her twelfth birthday, she is certain there is more to life than the walls of a cave. When Prewitt finds her, he realizes that she is the missing princess: the only hope for Lyrica. Determined to decipher the meaning of her mother’s strange message and find the Firebird, Calliope and Prewitt set off on a quest that puts them in more danger than either of them ever anticipated.

My Review

I love this book. The cover reminds me of the series by THE UNICORN QUEST by Kamilla Benko, and I think readers who liked that series will definitely like this book. I expected to find an imaginative fantasy story with bright, young heroes, and I did find that. But this book has so much more than that.

The story centers around the opposing forces the Firebird and the Demon. The Demon feeds on fear, so keeping people hopeless and afraid strengthens it. But the Firebird can be summoned by a queen full of hope, and it can drive out fear and defeat the Demon. I love this. It possibly sounds a little cheesy the way I’ve explained it, but in the story it felt really raw and beautifully done.

The main characters are both twelve, and they both wrestle with these mixed messages of coming of age at twelve– Calliope is told she’s reached the age of hope, and Prewitt learns he’s ready to take up his place learning to be the Bargemaster like his father– and being told they’re still children and can’t do anything important. You’re just a girl, someone tells Calliope at one point.

But it’s these two twelve-year-olds who take on the Demon in the quest to change their world. They find their own courage, and they inspire others. Their hope becomes contagious. I love that so much. I got all weepy at all these different points in the story when characters were brave and hopeful in the face of pretty steep odds. It really made me think about how powerful hope is. How it is the catalyst that can lead to real change.

This is one of those books I feel like I’ll be talking about for a long time and sneaking into Christmas stockings and reading lists. It’s so good. So worth reading, especially if you’re feeling discouraged.

Readers who enjoyed THE STORM KEEPER’S ISLAND by Catherine Doyle or SEEKER OF THE CROWN by Ruth Laurin need to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
I didn’t pick up on any clear specific representation. Some characters are described as having bronze skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Two supernatural creatures, a Firebird and a Demon have the ability to appear in the world. The Demon feeds on fear. The Firebird is summoned by a queen full of hope and can break the Demon’s hold on the world.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of battle and references to people being killed by monsters.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THE FIREBIRD SONG in exchange for my honest review.

Review: These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy

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These Feathered Flames
Alexandra Overy
Inkyard Press
Published April 20, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About These Feathered Flames

When twin heirs are born in Tourin, their fates are decided at a young age. While Izaveta remained at court to learn the skills she’d need as the future queen, Asya was taken away to train with her aunt, the mysterious Firebird, who ensured magic remained balanced in the realm.

But before Asya’s training is completed, the ancient power blooms inside her, which can mean only one thing: the queen is dead, and a new ruler must be crowned.

As the princesses come to understand everything their roles entail, they’ll discover who they can trust, who they can love—and who killed their mother.

My Review

The plight of these two sisters drew me in immediately. Izaveta is caught in a world of politial intrigue where every word and look can be laced with meaning and danger. Asya, a gentle, loving girl is tasked with ensuring the price for magic is always paid by the people who use it. I felt like both sisters were easy to identify with, and both were in such desperate circumstances that I couldn’t help holding my breath and reading more and more to find out what would happen.

There were a couple moments toward the middle where I got a little bit impatient. Asya and Izaveta’s feelings of desperation came awfully close to self-pity, and it felt like the story might stall out. And then it did NOT. The action picked right back up, and things began happening pretty fast. I stayed lost in the story all the way until the end.

So… the end has one of those moments where there’s a quick setup for the second book. I totally get why books include those teasers, but they are not my favorite, especially when they feel like a hard right turn with little foreshadowing. Still, I enjoyed the rest of the book so much that I can’t imagine I won’t read the second one. I’m a huge fan of sister books, and this one is no exception.

Readers who enjoyed THE GIRL KING by Mimi Yu or SEA WITCH RISING by Sarah Henning will definitely want to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
The story features a romance between two girls.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some swears in another language.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two girls. References to kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
The people of Tourin worship gods and celebrated saints. Several religious celebrations and traditions are described and whether they go well or poorly is judged to be approval or disapproval from the gods.

Violent Content
When someone uses magic without paying the appropriate tithe, the Firebird appears and exacts a price. The magic price can be small, like a lock of hair, or deadly, requiring one’s heart. Several scenes describe the Firebird taking the required price.

Several scenes also include situations of peril, battle violence, and two scenes include torture.

Drug Content
Izaveta drinks an alcoholic spirit as part of a religious ritual.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THESE FEATHERED FLAMES in exchange for my honest review.