Category Archives: Romance

Review: A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir

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A Sky Beyond the Storm by Saaba Tahir

A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4)
Sabaa Tahir
Razorbill
Published December 1, 2020

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About A Sky Beyond the Storm

Picking up just a few months after A REAPER AT THE GATES left off…

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

At his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory–or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life–and love–he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save–or destroy–all that he knows.

My Review

Normally, I really struggle with longer books, but I pretty much tore through this one. There were so many things on my list of things I needed to see happen. Romances that needed to be faced. Villains I wanted destroyed. So many things.

I am going to do my absolute best not to give anything away in this review, since I know a lot of people are still reading or haven’t been able to start reading yet. So bear with me if I sound cryptic.

The author has pretty much already stated that there are some heartbreaks coming in the book. There are. Some of them were really tough. There were some big surprises that had me cheering, too. Lots of things unfolded in ways that weren’t quite what I expected, and often I was like wait, wow!

Ultimately, I will say that I loved getting to follow the story to its conclusion. I think one of my favorite things about the series as a whole is Laia’s evolution from the girl too afraid to do anything but run to the girl who not only learns combat from the Blood Shrike, but who’s like, “Hey the Nightbringer has an awesome weapon which I believe I will try to steal right off his back.”

I also love, love, LOVE Helene. She’s 100% my favorite character, though I did not like her at all at first. I think the fact that she is so committed to protect her family and so committed to her people– and so committed to doing what’s right, even if it doesn’t follow traditions or what people in power want her to do– made it impossible for me not to love her.

There are so many complex, amazing characters in the book, though. I loved that over and over one of the things that Laia and Elias and Helene have to do is learn the story of their enemies. Learn what makes them who they are. I thought that exploration made the story a lot deeper and changed how I felt about certain characters.

On the whole, I feel like this is one of those books that you’re either already planning to read or you haven’t followed the series this far or at all. This isn’t the book you’d want to start with, if you’re unfamiliar with the series. Definitely start with AN EMBER IN THE ASHES if you haven’t read it yet.

I think this one was worth the wait. I’m super glad it came out before the end of the year so that I had something to look forward to reading this month.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Tribes and Scholar people are oppressed by the Empire. Scholars have been enslaved for many years. Both have bronze skin and dark hair. Elias’ father was a Scholar, and he was raised in a tribe. Laia is a Scholar.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used fairly infrequently. Most swears are things like, “Skies.”

Romance/Sexual Content
Several scenes show couples being intimate. There are enough details to let you know what’s happening. Most are descriptions of kissing and undressing, but some brief descriptions beyond that.

Spiritual Content
Elias is the Soul Catcher who serves Mauth, or death. He is responsible to help human ghosts make peace with their deaths and pass on. Mauth first created the Jinn to serve this purpose, but they’ve rebelled against him. There are other spirit creatures like efrits who have elemental abilities and ghuls that feed on grief and wights which spy for a character.

The tribes also have a spiritual leader who passes on stories. There’s a spiritual component to how the stories are kept and discovered. There is also a leader who performs burial rites for tribe members to help them pass on peacefully.

Violent Content
Many depictions of battle violence, some pretty graphic.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Heartless by Marissa Meyer

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Heartless
Marissa Meyer
Feiwel & Friends
Published November 8, 2016

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About Heartless

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

My Review

A couple people I know LOVE this book, but I’ve put off reading it for a long time, in part because I knew it would be sad. And it absolutely is a sad story.

But it’s also packed with amazing characters and loads of whimsy and hope for impossible things, and I so loved every moment of that. I loved Cath’s passion for baking and her inspiration with varying flavors, and the dreams that spawned lemon trees and roses in her room. The tea party and the ball and the ridiculous king and his court. Hatta and Haigha. Jest and Cath. There’s just so much to love.

So… yep. I’m a huge fan, even despite the fact that it’s a terrible time to read a sad book. The journey through the story was so much fun and so beautifully done that I would read it all over again.

If you liked CINDER, in that you liked a reimagined fairy tale world with vibrant characters and soaring adventure, I definitely recommend HEARTLESS.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
One brief reference to a man being in love with another man.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some magic. Three sisters guard a well with healing powers and issue prophesies about the future.

Violent Content
Some situations of peril. A fierce monster attacks at a party. References to a war in the kingdom of Chess. Two characters are beheaded with an ax. (It’s not graphically described in either instance.)

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White

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The Camelot Betrayal (Camelot Rising #2)
Kiersten White
Delacorte Press
Published November 10, 2020

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About The Camelot Betrayal

EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE IN CAMELOT: King Arthur is expanding his kingdom’s influence with Queen Guinevere at his side. Yet every night, dreams of darkness and unknowable power plague her.

Guinevere might have accepted her role, but she still cannot find a place for herself in all of it. The closer she gets to Brangien, pining for her lost love Isolde, Lancelot, fighting to prove her worth as Queen’s knight, and Arthur, everything to everyone and thus never quite enough for Guinevere–the more she realizes how empty she is. She has no sense of who she truly was before she was Guinevere. The more she tries to claim herself as queen, the more she wonders if Mordred was right: she doesn’t belong. She never will.

When a rescue goes awry and results in the death of something precious, a devastated Guinevere returns to Camelot to find the greatest threat yet has arrived. Not in the form of the Dark Queen or an invading army, but in the form of the real Guinevere’s younger sister. Is her deception at an end? And who is she really deceiving–Camelot, or herself?

My Review

I love this series. I feel like I can’t say that enough. It has so many of the things I really needed it to have. There are strong women everywhere you turn. Camelot feels every bit as revolutionary and magical (but without actual magic) as it should be. Arthur is so very… Arthur.

There are good men. Like, really complex, interesting, well-written, captivating men, but they never steal the scene or the show from the women. These girls more than hold their own.

I love Guinevere– her questions about her past and her identity, her longing to be loved, her relationship with her maids and her knight. Her powerful magic. I love her so much.

Then there’s Lancelot. The decision to have a woman as Lancelot surprised me, but I’ve loved it. I love that she’s an amazing warrior and that she has every bit as much heart and passion as any other knight out there. I love the way the story explores whether it’s more right to treat her just like the men or for Guinevere to treat her in a different way. It’s not the focus of the story at all, so it doesn’t feel like a political question or preachy or anything. It simply feels like people trying to figure out how to get through the best way they can.

I feel like the only thing CAMELOT BETRAYAL lacked over the first book in the series was an over-arching plot or the drive toward a particular battle. Through the whole book, Guinevere is on the lookout for the Dark Queen’s next attack, but she sort of spends the actual story itself running around handling side quests. Figuring out how to handle her sister. How to reach and/or rescue Isolde. What to do about her feelings for Arthur and Mordred.

I guess all that to say that it definitely feels like a second book which sets up for a third and final battle kind of book. I loved all the conflicts and plots here, so I can’t complain. I’m only sad that I have to wait until next year to read the finale.

Definitely read the first book, THE GUINEVERE DECEPTION, first. There are a lot of characters in this one, and it’ll just make a lot more sense if you’ve read the first book and know how they all came to be allies or enemies.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most characters are English/white. Two minor characters are lesbians.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used two times.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between man and woman. Reference to two women having an intimate relationship. Reference to sex as a means of consummating marriage and producing children.

Spiritual Content
Guinevere and other characters perform magic. Arthur’s kingdom is supposed to be a Christian kingdom, but there isn’t much celebration of or reference to faith shown.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle violence.

Drug Content
Characters drink wine socially.

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

Review: Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch

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

Love & Olives
Jenna Evans Welch
Simon Pulse
Published November 10, 2020

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About Love & Olives

Liv Varanakis doesn’t have a lot of fond memories of her father, which makes sense—he fled to Greece when she was only eight. What Liv does remember, though, is their shared love for Greek myths and the lost city of Atlantis. So when Liv suddenly receives a postcard from her father explaining that National Geographic is funding a documentary about his theories on Atlantis—and will she fly out to Greece and help?—Liv jumps at the opportunity.

But when she arrives to gorgeous Santorini, things are a little…awkward. There are so many questions, so many emotions that flood to the surface after seeing her father for the first time in years. And yet Liv doesn’t want their past to get in the way of a possible reconciliation. She also definitely doesn’t want Theo—her father’s charismatic so-called “protégé”—to witness her struggle.

And that means diving into all that Santorini has to offer—the beautiful sunsets, the turquoise water, the hidden caves, and the delicious cuisine. But not everything on the Greek island is as perfect as it seems. Because as Liv slowly begins to discover, her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important.

My Review

I have some mixed feelings about this book, but I liked a lot of things. First, the stuff that I loved.

The setting is gorgeous. LOVE & OLIVES made me feel like I was in Santorini enjoying the outdoors and the sea and excited about hunting down rumors of Atlantis. I loved a lot of things about Liv. She’s smart and artistic, and I couldn’t help feeling for her as she faced this unexpected trip to reunite with her estranged father. I liked Liv’s mom, too. She’s sharp and I felt like she tried really hard to walk that balance between interfering when necessary and letting Liv make her own life choices.

I really struggled with Liv’s feelings and relationship with her dad. I feel like I’ve been burned by that kind of visionary, head-in-the-clouds type of person before. He just seemed like he might flake out on her any second. It was hard not to worry that Liv was going to end up hurt again. Sometimes that made me angry.

I also had a hard time with Theo. I really didn’t like that he filmed her without her permission and ignored her when she asked him to stop. There were reasons in the story that made it a “good thing” that he had that footage, that’s still not okay. I don’t like stories where the guy overrides a girl’s no because he “knows better” than she does or knows her better than she knows herself, etc. I think it’s a dangerous behavior to idealize because it romanticizes someone who ultimately isn’t respecting a point-blank refusal.

That aside, I did like that Theo asked her thought-provoking questions. He also acted as a buffer between Liv and her dad. He did eventually grow to trust and respect Liv’s boundaries.

Her relationship with her dad went some places I wasn’t expecting. I still had a hard time because I worried that somehow he wouldn’t be accountable for the hurt he’d caused. I think the way the story explored the reasons why he disappeared and why he’d wanted to be a part of Liv’s life again were ultimately satisfying. It just took me a long time to warm to him.

Altogether, this book feels like a sweet summer romance, with a beautiful setting guaranteed to make you feel like you’re escaping reality. Ultimately I’m glad I read it. I think fans of Jennifer E. Smith will enjoy the romance of this story.

Content Notes for Love and Olives

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Liv and her father are Greek. So is Theo.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A couple instances of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Dear Hero by Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat

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

Dear Hero
Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat
INtense Publications
Published September 28, 2020

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About Dear Hero

Cortex and V need a new nemesis. 

Up-and-coming teen superhero Cortex is on top of the world–at least, until his villain dumps him. If he’s going to save his reputation, he needs a new antagonist, and fast.

Meanwhile, the villainous Vortex has once again gotten a little overeager and taken out a hero prematurely. Will any young hero be able to keep up with her? Maybe she should work on finding a steady relationship with an enemy she won’t kill in the first round.

So the two turn to Meta-Match, a nemesis pairing site for heroes and villains, where they match right away. But not everything in the superhero world is as it seems. Who are the real heroes and villains? And just how fine of a line is there between love and hate? When darkness from the past threatens them both, Cortex and V may need to work together to make it out alive. 
Told entirely through texts, transcriptions, and direct messages, this darkly humorous chat fiction novel goes behind the scenes of the superworld.

My Review

So this whole story is told in what looks like direct messages through an app called Meta-Match, which is like a browsing site for villains and heroes to help them pair up and fight each other.

The opening chats were a little bit awkward, but I feel like it’s hard to write scenes where characters meet online without having at least a little bit of the feeling each other out and trying not to give too much away. Right away I knew I’d love V’s tough exterior and soft heart and Cortex’s awkwardness.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It’s really different. Definitely a great read for anyone really needing an escape. I haven’t read RENEGADES by Marissa Meyer, but I wish I could say how it compares to something like that.

It reminded me a teeny bit of the ILLUMINAE books in the way it used direct messages and transcribed conversations. DEAR HERO does leave you to fill in the blanks on some of the scenes because you’re strictly getting dialogue unless someone narrates what’s happening.

All in all, it was definitely an entertaining, cute read. I’d say perfect for middle school readers.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Cortex is Japanese-American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
There were some teasing comments about race. For instance, in one scene V comments to Cortex (who is Asian) something like, aren’t you supposed to be good at math? He calls her out for stereotyping.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Reference to V attending Mass with Cortex’s family.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some references to violence and descriptions of battles between heroes and villains.

Drug Content
None.

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


Review: The Code for Love and Heartbreak by Jillian Cantor

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

The Code for Love and Heartbreak
Jillian Cantor
Inkyard Press
Published October 6, 2020

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About The Code for Love and Heartbreak

From bestselling author Jillian Cantor comes a smart, edgy update of Jane Austen’s beloved classic Emma.

Emma Woodhouse is a genius at math, but clueless about people. After all, people are unreliable. They let you down—just like Emma’s sister, Izzy, did this year, when she moved to California for college. But numbers…those you can count on. (No pun intended.)

Emma’s senior year is going to be all about numbers, and seeing how far they can take her. When she and George, her Coding Club co-president, are tasked with brainstorming a new project, The Code for Love is born—a matchmaking app that goes far beyond swiping, using algorithms to calculate compatibility. George disapproves of Emma’s idea, accusing her of meddling in people’s lives. But all the happy new couples at school are proof that the app works. At least at first.

Emma’s code is flawless. So why is it that perfectly matched couples start breaking up, the wrong people keep falling for each other and her own feelings defy any algorithm? Emma thought math could solve everything. But there’s nothing more complex—or unpredictable—than love.

My Review

As a contemporary romance, I really enjoyed CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK. I tend to like smart heroines, so it was a pretty strong possibility that I’d love Emma going into the book. And it turns out, I totally loved her.

I’m also a pretty big fan of sister relationships, so I loved the relationship between Emma and Izzy. I loved that they were so different from each other and that sometimes that caused sparks to fly and other times, they needed each other in ways that only sisters truly do.

As an update of Jane Austen’s EMMA, though, I have much more mixed feelings. I missed some of the dynamics in some of the relationships. I missed the Miss Bates of Austen’s version, in all her sweet, trying chattiness. I missed the connection between characters– the Westons and Frank (Sam) Churchill, and between Jane and Miss Bates.

In fairness, I don’t know how someone could bring all those relationships and the complexities they add AND tell CODE FOR LOVE AND HEARTBREAK without adding like 100 more pages. Which I probably wouldn’t have minded once I was into the story, but I imagine the average reader might not feel quite the same! Ha.

All in all, I think this is a super cute romance with smart characters and interesting relationships. Fans of friends to lovers or of sister stories will find lots to love here. I think the story will appeal to fans of WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU by Marisa Kanter and TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW by Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white. Some minor characters are gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Couples hold hands. A group of senior class boys who make a bet on who can have sex with an underclass girl first. This behavior is pretty strongly condemned. Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Emma remembers a party her sister threw that someone brought alcohol to. She hid upstairs and didn’t participate in the party.

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

About Jillian Cantor

Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter | Website

Jillian Cantor is the author of award-winning and bestselling novels for adults and teens, including In Another Time, The Hours Count, Margot, and The Lost Letter, which was a USA Today bestseller. She has a BA in English from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. Cantor lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons.