Category Archives: By Genre

Review: Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,
Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

Burning Crowns (Twin Crowns #3)
Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber
Balzer + Bray
Published April 25, 2024

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About Burning Crowns

Twin queens Rose & Wren survived the Battle for Anadawn and brought back magic to their kingdom. But danger lurks in Eana’s shadows.

Wren is troubled. Ever since she performed the blood spell on Prince Ansel, her magic has become unruly. Worse, the spell created a link between Wren and the very man she’s trying to forget: Icy King Alarik of Gevra. A curse is eating away at both of them. To fix it they must journey to the northern mountains—under the watchful guard of Captain Tor Iversen—to consult with the Healer on High.

Rose is haunted. Waking one night to find her undead ancestor Oonagh Starcrest by her bed, she receives a warning: surrender the throne—or face a war that will destroy Eana. With nowhere to turn and desperate to find a weapon to defeat Oonagh, Rose seeks help from Shen-Lo in the Sunkissed Kingdom, but what she finds there may break her heart.

As Oonagh threatens all Rose and Wren hold dear, it will take everything they have to save Eana–including a sacrifice they may not be prepared to make.

My Review

I’ve followed this trilogy since the beginning, so I’m really excited to have had a chance to read the conclusion. What a wild ride it was!

Wren and Rose share a connection, but they’re really different as people. I liked the way they related to one another but yet had their own values and approaches to ruling Anadawn. Each sister has her own romance underway from previous books, and those progress here, too. I’m not gonna lie, I kind of hoped one sister would make a different choice than she did, but I felt like the ending was satisfying nonetheless.

The romantic plot contains some of the most mature elements of the story. It does fade to black before characters go further than undressing, but the characters definitely have some lusty thoughts and desires. The rest of the story feels solidly young adult. Rose and Wren are both still figuring out how to step into their adult roles as queens. They’re falling in love for the first time. I felt like those components really anchored the story as a young adult fantasy.

Wren and Rose and their relationship stands at the center of the story. In this particular book, they face a threat from their shared ancestry, one they can only vanquish together.

All in all, I enjoyed the series, and I’m glad I read all the way to the end. I think readers who are just outgrowing Disney fairytales would like the Twin Crowns series.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Representation
Minor characters with brown skin. Two minor female characters are in a romantic relationship.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. In two scenes, characters undress one another, and the scene fades to black.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have magic. Wren and Alarik performed forbidden blood magic in an earlier book, which bound them together under a curse. A cruel past queen raises humans and animals from the dead, creating an undead army.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle scenes. References to torture. Descriptions of desecrated graves.

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: I Wish You Would by Eva Des Lauriers

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

I Wish You Would
Eva Des Lauriers
Henry Holt & Co.
Published May 21, 2024

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About I Wish You Would

In this drama-filled love story, private confessions are scattered on the beach during a senior class overnight and explosive secrets threaten to tear everyone apart, including best friends (or maybe more?), Natalia and Ethan.

It’s Senior Sunrise, the epic overnight at the beach that kicks off senior year. But for Natalia and Ethan, it’s the first time seeing each other after what happened at junior prom―when they almost crossed the line from best friends to something more and ruined everything. After ghosting each other all summer, Natalia is desperate to pretend she doesn’t care and Ethan is desperate to fix his mistake.

When the senior class carries out their tradition of writing private letters to themselves―what they wish they would do this year if they were braver―Natalia pours her heart out. So does Ethan. So does everyone in their entire class. But in Natalia’s panicked attempt to retrieve her heartfelt confession, the wind scatters seven of the notes across the beach. Now, Ethan and Natalia are forced to work together to find the lost letters before any secrets are revealed―especially their own.

Seven private confessions. Seven time bombs loose for anyone to find. And one last chance before the sun rises for these two to fall in love.

My Review

I really needed a candy romance book right about now, so I was really glad to find this one on my list. The short chapters make it especially binge-able, and the tension between the two estranged best friends makes it easy to keep reading well past bedtime (which I did.)

I like that Natalia is an artist and that her art impacts the story. There are moments when she describes how she’s feeling in terms of art or color. Ethan, by contrast, drifts into sharing strange facts when he’s stressed, which is really cute.

Almost the whole story takes place during an overnight camping trip for the rising senior class at Natalia’s and Ethan’s school. The first couple of chapters take place a few months before, and the last chapter takes place long afterward, functioning sort of like a prologue and epilogue.

The romantic plot of the story holds a lot of tension, with Natalia and Ethan recalling a kiss from months earlier that neither is sure whether the other regrets. The senior camping trip marks the first time they’ve seen each other in a while, and it creates a kind of forced proximity. The secret letters part of the story added some interesting components and quirky side characters and subplots.

Fans of J.C. Cervantes will probably like this quick, intense love story.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Representation
Natalia is Latine on her mom’s side. Includes minor characters of other races and gender identities/sexual orientations.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used fairly frequently. One character uses transphobic language and deadnames a nonbinary character.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. A boy and girl remove their tops while kissing. References to sex. References to romance between a girl and nonbinary character.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Two boys get into a fistfight. One character uses transphobic language and deadnames a character. References to sexual coercion, mostly off-scene. In one scene, a man boxes a girl into a corner, bracing his arm on the wall over her, and makes some comments with sexual undertones.

Drug Content
One teen character gets inexplicably drunk at the campout.

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: Puzzleheart by Jenn Reese

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

Puzzleheart
Jenn Reese
Henry Holt & Co.
Published May 14, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Puzzleheart

Get ready to solve the mystery at the heart of this middle grade adventure about family—and a house with a mind of its own.

Twelve-year-old Perigee has never met a problem they couldn’t solve. So when their Dad’s spirits need raising, Perigee formulates the perfect road trip to Dad’s childhood home to reunite him with his estranged mother. There’s something in it for Perigee, too, as they will finally get to visit “Eklunds’ Puzzle House,” the mysterious bed & breakfast their grandparents built but never opened.

They arrive ahead of a massive storm and the House immediately puts Perigee’s logical, science-loving mind to the test. Corridors shift. Strange paintings lurk in the shadows. Encoded messages abound. Despite Perigee’s best efforts, neither the House nor Grandma will give up their secrets. And worse, prickly Grandma has outlawed games and riddles of any kind. Even the greatest of plans can crumble, and as new arguments fill the air, the House becomes truly dangerous. Deadly puzzles pop up at every turn, knives spin in the hallways, and staircases disappear.

The answer lies at the heart of the House, but in order to find it, Perigee and their new friend Lily will need to solve a long-lost, decades-old riddle… if the House itself doesn’t stop them first.

My Review

If a family drama escape room adventure was a book, it could very much be this one. This book has great moments between characters, family secrets, new friendships, and so many puzzles.

Putting puzzles (which often have really specific visual or spatial components to them) into a book without bogging it down with too many details has to be a big challenge. It’s so well done here. I felt like I could visualize the extraordinary rooms and intricate puzzles, but I never lost sight of the action and drama unfolding in the midst of trying to solve them.

The story also balances the emotional elements with fun and mystery elements. Lily has a cat and her litter of kittens in tow, and they never stop getting into trouble. The scenes alternate between scenes from Perigee’s point of view and the House’s perspective, which really emphasizes its sentience– another great element.

I think readers who enjoyed Six Feet Below Zero by Ena Jones (one of my favorites) or Deephaven by Ethan Aldridge should definitely check out Puzzleheart.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Perigee is nonbinary and has anxiety. Her dad has depression. (Maybe her grandmother, too.)

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
A sentient house.

Violent Content
A woman hits her head on a cupboard and is knocked out. The house rolls out some increasingly threatening puzzles or traps, including a floor of tiles that shock someone and a pit with spikes at the bottom.

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: The Girl in the Window by Lindsey Hobson

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, , , , ,

The Girl in the Window
Lindsey Hobson
Publisher
Published

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About The Girl in the Window

When Izzy breaks a window in the creepy house next door, her summer plans suddenly go from playing baseball in the backyard to doing yard work for mysterious Mr. Johnson to pay for the damage. Just when she thinks it can’t get any worse, she encounters a ghost girl with a cryptic HELP ME.

As Izzy begins to unravel the mystery surrounding the girl’s death, she discovers a whole new meaning to being friends… forever.

My Review

Though the book is a little dark and creepy, it does a great job balancing those elements with goofy kid shenanigans like playing baseball and performing chores as penance. I liked that the characters weren’t always what they seemed to be at first. Izzy has to learn more about people and relationships as she tries to unravel the mystery of what happened to the ghost girl who asks for her help.

Izzy has two siblings. Her older sister, Anna, and younger brother, Steven. Their dad has died before the story begins. I kind of wish there had been a little more to the backstory about the loss of their dad because who their dad is intersects with the story in some interesting ways. Izzy briefly flashes back to the car accident when her dad died, but she doesn’t think a whole lot about it other than in that scene and immediately afterward.

The book’s short chapters and low page count (under 200 pages) make it a pretty quick read, too. It’s very easy to just-one-more-chapter your way all the way to the end of the book.

I think readers who enjoy stories with a ghostly presence in them will like this spine-tingling tale.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white. One minor character has lost an eye and wears a patch.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some discussion about whether a boy has a crush on a girl.

Spiritual Content
One character is a ghost.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Izzy hears rumors that a little girl was poisoned to death. References to someone injuring someone else and causing them to lose their eye. References to the death of a child.

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: Vengeance of the Pirate Queen by Tricia Levenseller

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

Vengeance of the Pirate Queen (Daughter of the Pirate King #3)
Tricia Levenseller
Feiwel & Friends
Published November 7, 2023

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About Vengeance of the Pirate Queen

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN meets THE MUMMY in VENGEANCE OF THE PIRATE QUEEN, a beautifully designed standalone YA fantasy romance set in the world of Tricia Levenseller’s DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING.

You can’t be afraid of the dark when you’re the monster lurking in the shadows.

As an assassin working for the pirate queen, eighteen-year-old Sorinda is surprised when Alosa’s next task for her is not to kill a new target but to captain a handpicked crew on a rescue mission. Unfortunately, her sailing master is twenty-year-old Kearan. He may be the best helmsman the pirate queen has, but Sorinda finds him a real pain in the arse. Sadly, there are few places on a ship to hide from an attentive man.

As the crew of the Vengeance faces dangerous waters and deadly sea creatures, they accidentally awaken the King of the Undersea, a being who can control the dead. Their rescue mission quickly turns into a fight to save the world, but first, Sorinda must save herself from becoming an undead queen.

My Review

I remember Sorinda from The Daughter of the Pirate King series. She was a minor character in those books but a deeply interesting one. I vaguely remembered Kearan and some other characters as well. It was fun to revisit that story world and learn more about some of the other characters.

I struggled with some elements of the story, though.

First, the portrayal of the younger characters in real time or in flashbacks. At one point, a seven-year-old character makes a speech that sounds like it would have to come from an older child. Some of the ideas were really abstract and complex, and I felt like a kid that age would have maybe had similar feelings but been more likely to say things in a simpler way.

Is this romantic?

I also struggled with the romantic arc. Sorinda is a loner, an assassin with a dark past that she hasn’t really grappled with, and I love those things about her. One of the crew members has decided that she needs a friend and nominated himself to be it.

Over and over Sorinda refuses to engage with him. He refuses to accept her wishes and continues to pursue her. At one point, he follows her belowdecks into a dark, secluded area where she’d gone to be alone. I couldn’t get my head around that as a gesture of friendship. If someone follows me, uninvited, into a dark room with only one exit, I don’t know how to read that except as a creepy move.

So that made it hard for me to invest in the romantic arc of the story. I kept wanting her to confront him about not respecting her boundaries. Instead, she decides she’s the problem and just needs to give him a chance. Eventually, her feelings change, and she realizes she enjoys the advances.

Which, you know, really isn’t how consent works? Someone who keeps asking to be your friend when you’ve continued to refuse that offer isn’t being kind. They’re not respecting your boundaries. He isn’t wrong that she’s isolated and hurting. But he is wrong that he has the authority to decide who she should be friends with.

Pirates of the Caribbean Vibes

Anyway, that relationship didn’t resonate with me at all, so I ended up really reading this for the pirate adventure and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN vibes.

I did enjoy that, and I liked the scenes in which Sorinda really got to shine. I also really enjoyed the young character whose speech didn’t ring true. She is a little fireball, and I loved her tenacity.

Conclusion

Readers who loved The Daughter of the Pirate King series will enjoy revisiting Alosa’s world and reading a story focused on some of the series’ most memorable side characters.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Sorinda is described as having dark brown skin. Other members of her crew have darker skin tones. One crew member is an alcoholic in recovery.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. A man pursues a woman despite her stating she is uninterested.

Spiritual Content
After a crew member dies at sea, pirates light lanterns on deck to help the dead find their way to the light and the afterlife.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle violence and brief gore. Battles against the undead.

Drug Content
One crew member asks if the captain will lock up the rum rations after a particularly traumatic day.

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: Northranger by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Northranger
Rey Terciero
Illustrated by Bre Indigo
HarperTeen
Published June 6, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Northranger

In this swoony and spooky teen summer romance graphic novel set on a Texas ranch, sixteen-year-old Cade Muñoz finds himself falling for the ranch owner’s mysterious and handsome son, only to discover that he may be harboring a dangerous secret.

Cade has always loved to escape into the world of a good horror movie. After all, horror movies are scary–but to Cade, a closeted queer Latino teen growing up in rural Texas–real life can be way scarier.

When Cade is sent to spend the summer working as a ranch hand to help earn extra money for his family, he is horrified. Cade hates everything about the ranch, from the early mornings to the mountains of horse poop he has to clean up. The only silver lining is the company of the two teens who live there–in particular, the ruggedly handsome and enigmatic Henry.

But as unexpected sparks begin to fly between Cade and Henry, things get… complicated. Henry is reluctant to share the details of his mother’s death, and Cade begins to wonder what else he might be hiding. Inspired by the gothic romance of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Bloom comes a modern love story so romantic it’s scary.

My Review

I really wanted to read this book when it came out, but my review calendar was out of control, so I bought a copy to add to my TBR stack, and was super excited to get to it finally. NORTHRANGER is inspired by Jane Austen’s classic Northanger Abbey, and like that novel, it features a main character who loves spooky stories. The lines between his favorite movies and real life begin to blur in some interesting ways, giving the story a suspenseful edge without any true horror elements. It’s got more of the fun, ghost stories by the campfire as a kid vibe to it.

I really liked both Cade and Henry as characters. They have really different personalities, and the panels show a lot of facets to them. I also thought the way the story showed the tension between Cade and his family because of his identity and how he internalized pressure and judgment from them was very well done.

It took me a while to finally get to read this one, but I’m so glad I did. Terciero is definitely an author I’ll be following for future books. I can see HEARTSTOPPER readers liking this one, especially the sweet M/M romance elements.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Cade is Latine and his stepdad and younger sister are also Black. Cade and another character are gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Cade hears rumors about a possible murder and coverup. Brief racist and homophobic comments appear in the book as well.

Drug Content
One character is an alcoholic and drinks in several scenes.

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