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Review: The Severed Thread by Leslie Vedder

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The Severed Thread by Leslie Vedder

The Severed Thread (The Bone Spindle #2)
Leslie Vedder
Razorbill
Published February 7, 2023

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About The Severed Thread

Which threads of fate will hold—and which will break?

Clever, bookish Fi and her brash, ax-wielding partner Shane are back in this action packed sequel to the bestselling THE BONE SPINDLE, the gender-flipped Sleeping Beauty retelling, perfect for fans of SORCERY OF THORNS and THE CRUEL PRINCE.

Fi has awakened the sleeping prince, but the battle for Andar is far from over. The Spindle Witch, the Witch Hunters, and Fi’s own Butterfly Curse all stand between them and happily ever after.

Shane has her partner’s back. But she’s in for the fight of her life against Red, the right hand of the Spindle Witch who she’s also, foolishly, hellbent on saving.

Briar Rose would do anything to restore his kingdom. But there’s a darkness creeping inside him—a sinister bond to the Spindle Witch he can’t escape.

All hopes of restoring Andar rest on deciphering a mysterious book code, finding the hidden city of the last Witches, and uncovering a secret lost for centuries—one that just might hold the key to the Spindle Witch’s defeat. If they can all survive that long…

Set in a world of twisted fairytales, THE SEVERED THREAD combines lost ruins, ride-or-die friendships, and heart-pounding romance.

My Review

Okay, this is easily one of my most-anticipated books coming out this year. I absolutely LOVED the first book in this series, THE BONE SPINDLE, and was counting the days until THE SEVERED THREAD came out.

The first couple chapters were a little rough for me. I don’t know if there were a lot of longer sentences (It felt like that reading it, but I haven’t gone back to look.) or if the writing just took a minute to really find a strong voice and get me back into the characters I know and love.

Once I was a few chapters in, though, I was just as hooked on this story as I was the last one. I didn’t think it was possible to love Shane and Fi even more, but I completely did. Red and Briar Rose both grew on me more, too. I totally missed the Red Hiding Hood references with Red in the first book, but at some point in this one, I was like OHHHH. I see it now. (Can we have a Red backstory novella somewhere in the future??? I’d be completely in for that.)

At any rate. I loved the places this story went. I loved the things we learned about the characters, and I loved the setup for the third book in the series. It is, I believe, a trilogy, so the third book should be the last. So now I’m counting down the days until that one comes out!

If you enjoy fairytale retellings or high fantasy, definitely put this series on your list. I can’t recommend it enough.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Shane and Red, two women, are attracted to one another.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

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

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. Briar Rose has a magic that’s connected to the Spindle Witch, a powerful witch who cursed his kingdom more than a hundred years ago, and still seems bent on its destruction. Fi has a curse mark on her hand which means that if she stays in one place for more than three days, harm will befall the people and places she loves the most where she is.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle violence. References to torture.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: The Buried and the Bound by Rochelle Hassan

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The Buried and the Bound
Rochelle Hassan
MacMillan
Published January 24, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Buried and the Bound

A contemporary fantasy YA debut from Rochelle Hassan about monsters, magic, and wicked fae, perfect for fans of The Darkest Part of the Forest and The Hazel Wood.

As the only hedgewitch in Blackthorn, Massachusetts—an uncommonly magical place—Aziza El-Amin has bargained with wood nymphs, rescued palm-sized fairies from house cats, banished flesh-eating shadows from the local park. But when a dark entity awakens in the forest outside of town, eroding the invisible boundary between the human world and fairyland, run-of-the-mill fae mischief turns into outright aggression, and the danger—to herself and others—becomes too great for her to handle alone.

Leo Merritt is no stranger to magical catastrophes. On his sixteenth birthday, a dormant curse kicked in and ripped away all his memories of his true love. A miserable year has passed since then. He’s road-tripped up and down the East Coast looking for a way to get his memories back and hit one dead end after another. He doesn’t even know his true love’s name, but he feels the absence in his life, and it’s haunting.

Desperate for answers, he makes a pact with Aziza: he’ll provide much-needed backup on her nightly patrols, and in exchange, she’ll help him break the curse.

When the creature in the woods sets its sights on them, their survival depends on the aid of a mysterious young necromancer they’re not certain they can trust. But they’ll have to work together to eradicate the new threat and take back their hometown… even if it forces them to uncover deeply buried secrets and make devastating sacrifices.

My Review

I absolutely loved PRINCE OF NOWHERE, Rochelle Hassan’s debut novel, so THE BURIED AND THE BOUND was one of the books I most looked forward to reading this year.

Though it took me a few chapters to get into the book, I was delighted to find characters just as rich in a world just as magical as the author’s debut. I loved Aziza immediately. Leo took me a minute, but once I saw his big heart and how determined he truly is, I couldn’t help loving him. Tristan grew on me much more slowly, but in the end, I loved him, too.

The story world. Okay, so this is a real world setting right next to an entirely magical world with fairy bargains, magical creatures, curses, and alliances. The magical world felt so rich and alive. I loved the way different parts of it came together in different ways.

On the whole, I had a second of uncertainty at the beginning of this book, but once I got oriented to the story, I was completely hooked on it. I’m super glad I read it, and I’ll be eagerly waiting for Hassan’s next book, which hopefully will be a sequel to this one??

Content Notes for The Buried and the Bound

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Tristan is gay and homeless (his parents threw him out when they learned he is gay). Leo is bisexual but closeted. Aziza is Lebanese American and lost both her parents as a very young child.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to a relationship between two boys.

Spiritual Content
Aziza is a hedgewitch, which means she can perform magic that reinforces boundaries between the human and fae worlds. The story contains magic creatures like nymphs, fairies, witches, kelpies, selkies, and a necromancer. A powerful creature has a bond agreement with Tristan in which he must serve her for ten years in exchange for a magical favor. She uses him to lure victims to her which she kills to power herself.

Violent Content
References to murders by Tristan’s master. Murders and harm carried out by immortal hound-like creatures. References to other harm done by magical creatures. Situations of peril. Battle scenes with some graphic detail.

Drug Content
None.

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 THE BURIED AND THE BOUND in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

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Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle #1)
Diana Wynne Jones
Greenwillow Books
Published August 1, 2001 (Originally published 1986)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Howl’s Moving Castle

Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl’s castle.

To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there’s far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

My Review

HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE is the first book by Diana Wynne Jones that I’ve ever read. I think that’s weird, considering how popular her books are and how much I read as a kid, but there you go. First time for everything, I guess.

I wasn’t sure whether I would like this book or not when I first started it. I felt like the author was kind of making jokes about fantasy as a genre, and I wasn’t always sure I was in on them? For instance, Sophie worries about being the eldest of three sisters, because it means there’s no likelihood that anything magical or amazing will happen to her. I wasn’t sure if that was something that was particular to her world or a joke about fairytales?

Anyway, once the witch cursed Sophie and she ran away, I got a lot more invested in the story. She’s smart and loyal, and I loved her from the first moment she rescued the dog stuck in the hedge.

I also thought it was clever to tell the story from the perspective of a girl under a curse that makes her look like an old woman. Normally I’m not a fan of children’s books written from the point-of-view of an adult, but Sophie wasn’t really an adult… she just looked like one. Which was an interested juxtaposition.

All the way through the book, new pieces get added to the mystery of Sophie’s curse and the story of Howl and why he is what Sophie terms, “a slitherer-outer”. I loved the book, and really want to read more stories by Diana Wynne Jones.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to Howl falling in love with lots of women and trying to make them fall in love with him.

Spiritual Content
Some characters use magic. Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waste. Howl has a contract with a fire demon.

Violent Content
Situations of peril.

Drug Content
Howl comes home drunk one night.

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

Review: The Bitterwine Oath by Hannah West

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The Bitterwine Oath
Hannah West
Holiday House
Published December 1, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Bitterwine Oath

Every fifty years, a cult claims twelve men to murder in a small Texas town. Can one girl end the cycle of violence – and save the boy who broke her heart?

San Solano, Texas, is a quaint town known for its charm, hospitality, and history of murder. Twice now, twelve men have been brutally killed, and no one knows who did it. A shadowy witch? A copycat killer? Or a man-hating murderess?

Eighteen-year-old Natalie Colter is sure that the rumors about her great-great-grandmother’s cult of wronged women are just gossip, but that doesn’t stop the true-crime writers and dark tourism bloggers from capitalizing on the town’s reputation. It’s an urban legend that’s hard to ignore, and it gets harder when Nat learns that the sisterhood is real. And magical. And they want her to join.

The more Nat learns of the Wardens’ supernatural history, the more she wonders about the real culprits behind the town’s ritualistic murders. Are the Wardens protecting San Solano from even darker forces? There are shadows in the woods, bones on the outskirts of town, and questions Nat needs answered.

But everything becomes more urgent when people start getting marked as new victims–including Levi Langford, the boy whose kiss haunted Nat for a year. With Levi in danger, doing nothing would be harder than fighting back.

Nat knows that no one is safe. Can she and the sisterhood stop the true evil from claiming their town?

My Review

I went on a bit of a paranormal kick this year, so this is a book I agreed to read while I was kind of in that mindset. I liked the idea of a sisterhood taking on a decades old curse in a small town, and I think the author really delivered on all those concepts.

Nat is a neat character– I liked that she keeps herself a little bit apart from her friends. She has some secrets, just things she isn’t ready to talk about yet. I found that really relatable. I also liked the back and forth between her and Levi. It’s not banter, but I definitely got the sense that they were locked in some kind of emotional thing. Not adversarial, but not exactly friendly either. So that hooked my curiosity right away.

Some elements of the book reminded me a bit of things I loved about THE LUMINARIES. It’s not exactly the same kind of story, but it does have some similarities: an elite team of warriors taking on monsters that the rest of humanity can’t see or know about; a small exclusive town; a complicated friendship-slash-maybe-romance. So all those things were big wins for me, too.

I think readers who enjoyed THE LUMINARIES definitely want to try this one. I am really glad I read it, and will definitely have to check out other things by Hannah West.

Content Notes for The Bitterwine Oath

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
The curse began when four girls used magic to ask for revenge against men who’d wronged them. The magic revisits the town every fifty years, claiming twelve new victims.

Nat learns that the magic still exists, and that a coven of women use it to fight back against the cursed magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle violence. In one scene, a pet is found injured. Several scenes show animal carcasses or bones. Several scenes show creatures made of bones and carcasses attacking people.

Drug Content
References to teens drinking beer.

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 BITTERWINE OATH in exchange for my honest review.


Review: Edgewood by Kristen Ciccarelli

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Edgewood
Kristen Ciccarelli
Wednesday Books
Published March 1, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Edgewood

No matter how far she runs, the forest of Edgewood always comes for Emeline Lark. The scent of damp earth curls into her nose when she sings and moss creeps across the stage. It’s as if the woods of her childhood, shrouded in folklore and tall tales, are trying to reclaim her. But Emeline has no patience for silly superstitions.

When her grandfather disappears, leaving only a mysterious orb in his wake, the stories Emeline has always scoffed at suddenly seem less foolish. She enters the forest she has spent years trying to escape, only to have Hawthorne Fell, a handsome and brooding tithe collector, try to dissuade her from searching.

Refusing to be deterred, Emeline finds herself drawn to the court of the fabled Wood King himself. She makes a deal—her voice for her grandfather’s freedom. Little does she know, she’s stumbled into the middle of a curse much bigger than herself, one that threatens the existence of this eerie world she’s trapped in, along with the devastating boy who feels so familiar.

With the help of Hawthorne—an enemy turned reluctant ally who she grows closer to each day—Emeline sets out to not only save her grandfather’s life, but to right past wrongs, and in the process, discover her true voice.

My Review

I always love reading about musicians and magical woods, and EDGEWOOD is loaded with both those things. Emmeline’s struggle for her career and her conflict about her home and the weird things her neighbors believe about the woods drew me into the story. I loved the cast of characters from the woods, too– Rook, Sable, and Hawthorne. This is the kind of story that sets itself up perfectly for fan fiction to be written about those characters. I would absolutely read that.

There were a couple of things that felt weird to me about the book, though. I guess Emmeline had to be older in order to be on her own, but the fact that she was nineteen but paired with other story elements and writing that felt definitively YA left me feeling a little off-step or something.

I also thought it was kind of weird that no one else in the woods knew who Emmeline was. Because of some other circumstances, it seemed like at least somebody would have put two and two together before she did. (Trying to avoid spoilers, sorry.)

At any rate, I liked the woods and its magic and the mystery of the curse. Overall, I’m not sorry I read the book. I think I was expecting something more like INTO THE HEARTLESS WOOD by Joanna Ruth Meyer, and it’s a different kind of story.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Main human characters are white. Two minor characters are lesbians.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. A couple of scenes show explicit sex. Several scenes show nudity, sometimes for the purpose of studying drawing.

Spiritual Content
A powerful curse spreads through the forest. Magical creatures fill the woods, some intent on killing anyone they encounter. Others are shapeshifters or other magical creatures.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Some battle violence. The king has a long history of executing those who do not please him.

Drug Content
One character is known for putting unwanted spells in the drinks of others. She spikes Emmeline’s drink at one point.

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 EDGEWOOD in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Dance of Twilight and Tears by Zara Mills

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Dance of Twilight and Tears
Zara Mills
FinnStar Publishing
Published January 20, 2022

Amazon | Goodreads

About Dance of Twilight and Tears

Algae and toe shoes, feathers and tutus

Behind the gilded doors of the Paris Opéra Ballet, two best friends, Madeleine and Lucie, dance the night away. But at first morning light, their human bodies transform into webbed feet, billed lips, and wings.

When enchanted, the girls are the Bois de Boulogne’s famous black and white swans. For ninety years, they have floated in the lake, unable to find true love and break the evil Dance Master’s curse. But when Madeleine meets American transplant Zig Young, everything changes.

Suddenly, Madeleine wins a coveted solo spot in an upcoming ballet, and her growing relationship with Zig means she’s on the verge of breaking the enchantment. However, doing so means leaving the Bois, the ballet, and Lucie forever—something she’s not sure she can bear.

Desperate to not lose her best friend, Lucie will do anything to keep Madeleine with her—including betrayal. She’ll stop at nothing—even if it means breaking Madeleine’s heart and dooming her to life as a swan forever; even if she ruins her own chance at happiness.

In this retelling of Swan Lake, the lines of good and bad blur as Madeleine and Lucie struggle to choose between the life they want and their friendship.

My Review

This is the second book I’ve read in a week with main characters who are ballerinas, and I’m loving that! As a former dancer myself, I can never get enough ballet books.

I loved the way dance was incorporated into this story. It felt really authentic and definitely kept me envisioning moments in the Swan Lake ballet. I really enjoyed the complex relationship between Lucie and Madeleine (the black and white swans), too. The idea to retell the story of Swan Lake and center it around the characters Odette and Odile is an incredible one, and for the most part, I loved how that played out.

There were really only two things that I struggled with in the story. One was the backstory of the characters. So Henri, the sorcerer who cursed the girls to be swans by night and dancers by day, has this dark magic ability, but it’s never really explored how that happened. Is he the only one like that? Are there others out in the world somewhere? I know in the original story, it’s a thing we take for granted, so I was willing to let it pass in the book, too. But then we get some of the history of the girls, which just raised a lot of questions for me.

I think because it’s set in a contemporary world, I wanted more information so that I understood how the characters really fit within the setting. That part wasn’t that big of a deal, just left me with questions I wished were answered in the story.

Those Last Two Chapters

The other thing that tripped me up a bit was the last two chapters. I don’t want to include spoilers, so I’ll try to be really careful here. Things happened really fast in those last two chapters, the last one especially. I wasn’t opposed to the events– in fact some of the things were really cool– but I wish all of that had been built up to just a little bit more. And I wish it had played out over four or six chapters so that things felt more resolved, and I had more time to enjoy those moments. There’s also one part of the story that kind of gets shrugged off, and I found that not very satisfying. It’s a more minor plot, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, I just wished it had a more conclusive ending.

On the whole, I’m still glad I read DANCE OF TWILIGHT AND TEARS. I loved the ballet components and the friendship between Lucie and Madeleine. Also, I read the book pretty quickly. I think readers who enjoy fairy tale inspired stories set in a contemporary world will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl. Unwanted kissing between the sorcerer and Lucie.

Spiritual Content
A sorcerer has imprisoned Lucie and Madeleine in a curse that transforms them into swans during the day and girls at night. He is the Ballet Master, so he has power over them during their night time lives, too. The curse can only be broken by true love.

Violent Content
The Ballet Master/sorcerer says cruel things to the girls and punishes them by making them dance until their feet bleed or transforming them into swans even at night if they disobey even his smallest commands.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol at night clubs.

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 DANCE OF TWILIGHT AND TEARS in exchange for my honest review.