Tag Archives: duology

Review: The Guardians of Dreamdark: Windwitch by Laini Taylor

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,
Guardians of Dreamdark: Windwitch by Laini Taylor

The Guardians of Dreamdark: Windwitch
Laini Taylor
Amulet Books
Published September 23, 2025 (Orig. 2007)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Guardians of Dreamdark: Windwitch

From New York Times bestselling author Laini Taylor comes a new edition of her first cult favorite series, Guardians of Dreamdark, about a devil-hunting faerie and her quest to save her world
 
For centuries faeries have lived safely in their ancient forests, but now their peace is under threat. Devils are escaping the prisons that have held them since the Dawn Days, and only one faerie stands in their way. Magpie Windwitch is the greatest—the only—devil-hunter of the Age. Together with her trusted band of crows, she tracks down and recaptures these ravenous beasts that devour everything in their path.
  
When the hunt leads them to the legendary forest of Dreamdark, Magpie finds herself outmatched. Facing the greatest foe her kind has ever known (not to mention an imposter queen, a disgusting imp, and a young faerie warrior as infuriating as he is brave), one thing is If she’s to save the world, she’ll need all the help she can get. 
    
Bestselling author Laini Taylor’s thrilling first novel is now available for the first time for a new generation of fans.

My Review

I’ve read both the “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” series and the “Strange the Dreamer” duology, but I had never read “The Guardians of Dreamdark” duology. This first book is both like her other work and different. I can definitely see how she went from this series to writing Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

It feels a little like the 1994 movie Thumbelina. The story has definitive stakes and danger, but Magpie faces it all bravely along with her crew of crows and faerie allies.

This series is written for a younger audience than the author’s other books. It’s got a lot of adventure and danger, but very lightly brushes by romance, giving us the impression of characters who maybe feel some attraction for one another. It’s a longer book, coming in at about 400 pages, so that will certainly intimidate some upper middle grade/lower YA readers.

Because Magpie isn’t truly a child (she’s still young by faerie standards), I could see this being a great crossover series and appealing to adults, especially those who grew up with the author’s other books. Readers who like faerie adventures will enjoy the world-building and high stakes of the adventure.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few made up curses.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some blushing and attraction between characters.

Spiritual Content
Some characters are faeries. 7 powerful Djinn created the world through their dreams. Faeries can choose to leave the world for the Moonlit Gardens, a different realm, sort of like an afterlife space. If faeries are killed in battle, they also appear in the Moonlit Gardens. Other creatures like imps and scavenging devils appear in the story and cause trouble. Magpie and her family have spent years tracking down these devils and imprisoning them in bottles.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief battle scenes and scary imagery. A monster made of darkness swallows up some characters.

Drug Content
Reference to social drinking and smoking tobacco at a community celebration.

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 Night Country by Melissa Albert

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

The Night Country (The Hazel Wood #2)
Melissa Albert
Flatiron Books
Published January 7, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Night Country

The New York Times bestselling sequel to Melissa Albert’s beloved The Hazel Wood!

In The Night Country, Alice Proserpine dives back into a menacing, mesmerizing world of dark fairy tales and hidden doors of The Hazel Wood. Follow her and Ellery Finch as they learn The Hazel Wood was just the beginning, and that worlds die not with a whimper, but a bang.

With Finch’s help, Alice escaped the Hinterland and her reclusive grandmother’s dark legacy. Now she and the rest of the dregs of the fairy tale world have washed up in New York City, where Alice is trying to make a new, unmagical life. But something is stalking the Hinterland’s survivors—and she suspects their deaths may have a darker purpose. Meanwhile, in the winking out world of the Hinterland, Finch seeks his own adventure, and—if he can find it—a way back home…

My Review

Yay, I finished a series! Okay, there were literally only two books in this one, but it still feels like an accomplishment for me. I read The Hazel Wood last year. It was a total impulse read for me. I’d been waiting on something else to be available at the library, so I picked up The Hazel Wood (available immediately) instead. Fast-forward to this year, when I finally decided I was ready to revisit Alice and Finch’s stories and see how it all ends.

I think one of the things that’s really interesting about this series is how minor the romantic thread is. The first book barely brings romance into the story and ends without resolving the romance. There is some romance in The Night Country, but it is VERY subplot. The characters do pine for one another more, but the feelings are more background than plot, if that makes sense.

After the grisly, immersive fairytales of the first book, I wasn’t sure how Albert was going to pull off crafting a story landscape that rivaled The Hazel Wood. I loved the lore of The Night Country and how it tied together with the mysterious deaths Alice was tracking.

This is one of those stories that seems to have a lot of disparate pieces, and then all of them snap together in a very satisfying way. I love it when an author can pull that off well, and I thought it was well done here.

This is definitely a “read the first book first” kind of series, but if you enjoyed the first book, definitely check this one out if you haven’t already. And if you love creepy fairytales and sinister magic, put this duology on your reading list.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Some characters can use magic. Multiple worlds exist, and some characters learn to navigate between them. Some characters can see the future or make predictions. Three characters spend a lot of time in a church, though the church leadership wants them to leave.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Vague references to a man harming (including murdering) women. Alice tracks a serial murderer who mutilates their victims, taking a single body part from each person.

Drug Content
Alice drinks alcohol and another strong drink that alters her mental/physical state.

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 library. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Floating World by Axie Oh

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

The Floating World (The Floating World #1)
Axie Oh
Feiwel & Friends
Published April 29, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Floating World

From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this romantic fantasy reimagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.

Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.

Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.

Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn’t realize she’s the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined…

My Review

I’m not going to lie; this book had me at Final Fantasy. I may have been waiting my whole life for a book that gave Final Fantasy VII vibes so strongly, and in all the best ways. I may have hummed the Sephiroth theme out loud more than once while reading.

The story mainly alternates between Ren and Sunho’s perspectives. I loved both of them as characters. Sunho has memory gaps that add to the intrigue surrounding him. Ren remembers her past, but she actively avoids thinking about it. A third point of view appears now and then, and his scenes both raise new questions and tie things together.

The story world feels like something straight out of Final Fantasy. It has a clearly defined class system with a shadowy power structure. I loved piecing together what was happening in the mythril mines and figuring out the memories Sunho had lost.

I think this is the first part of a duology. The second part comes out in October and is called The Demon and the Light. I will definitely be reading that!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Profanity used rarely.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
One character has the ability to use magic. The story explores a myth about a goddess who lost her wings. Strange creatures referred to as demons attack and kill people.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle scenes. A girl witnesses a murder.

Drug Content
Someone injects others with an experimental substance, sometimes without their consent.

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: Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee

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

Breath of the Dragon (Breathmarked #1)
Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee
Wednesday Books
Published January 7, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Breath of the Dragon

The first novel in a sweeping YA fantasy duology based on characters and teachings created by Bruce Lee!

Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Earth to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s honor—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.

But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. There is no future in honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.

As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself.

My Review

Jun displays a huge amount of growth as a character through this first book in the duology. He begins as a talented and ambitious kid whose interest in the tournament has more to do with proving his ability to others and finally making his dad proud of him. As the story progresses and he meets other fighters and allies, he begins to see the larger picture and the broader scope of responsibility in the role of the Guardian.

I thought that growth was really realistic and well-paced. I also enjoyed the ways that his relationships with other characters developed over the course of the story.

For some reason, I didn’t expect as much of the story to be centered on literal one-on-one fighting in a competitive setting. The early chapters show Jun competing for victory at his martial arts school, where the top student will go on to compete in a national tournament. Then, once he gets to the city, more scenes focus on the matches between fighters.

At some points, I could see why a scene was important to the larger story. The fights started to feel repetitive after a while, though.

Breath of the Dragon nicely wraps up the central plot of the book while setting up the major conflict in the sequel. We are left with new threads to pull in the next book, and I’m interested to see where the story goes.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some swearing and a few F-bombs.

Romance/Sexual Content
Jun feels attracted to a girl and jealous when someone else shows interest in her, too.

Spiritual Content
People revere the Dragon, whose breath gives extraordinary ability to certain people, and the Lady of Many Hands, who recorded his teachings in two indestructible scrolls. In the West, only the Guardian and those he permits to can look at the Dragon scroll.

Some characters have dragon scales on their bodies, which is evidence that they have special abilities from the Dragon. Others have a strong presence of Breath inside them, which they can draw on for energy and power.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle violence. Fatal combat. Soldiers kill unarmed workers. Reference to execution. Death of a parent.

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: Masquerade of the Heart by Katy Rose Pool

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

Masquerade of the Heart
Katy Rose Pool
Henry Holt & Co.
Published June 18, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Masquerade of the Heart

Cursebreaker Marlow Briggs must deal with the aftermath of her fake romance with one of the most powerful nobles in the illustrious—and deadly—Evergarden society , all while uncovering the mystery behind her mother’s disappearance. This edge-of-your-seat duology finale is perfect for fans of Veronica Mars , These Violent Delights, and Chain of Iron .

Caraza sits poised on the edge of chaos. Tensions rise between the Five Families, and trouble brews in the Marshes—and Marlow is at the center of it all. In the tragic aftermath of the Vale-Falcrest wedding, Adrius refuses to speak to her, publicly vowing to find a wife before the year is out. Despite her heartbreak, Marlow is still intent on breaking his curse. To do so, she’ll have to play loving daughter to the man who cast it. But the closer she gets to her father, the more she starts to question if he’s really the villain she’s made him out to be.

Marlow has learned by now that in a city steeped in secrets and lies, not everything is as it seems. As the lines between enemy and ally blur, Marlow must decide who to trust—and how high a price she’s willing to pay for the truth.

“Nothing short of genius .” —Jennifer Lynn Barnes, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Inheritance Games series, on Garden of the Cursed

“A delicious read full of swoony romance .” —Tricia Levenseller, New York Times-bestselling author of Blade of Secrets, on Garden of the Cursed

My Review

I started reading this book immediately after finishing Garden of the Cursed. I really wanted to know how the duology would conclude, so I squeezed in a quick read of this book.

The tension between Marlow and Adrius continues in this book. The first book was only from Marlow’s perspective, but I was delighted when I started reading Masquerade of the Heart and realized it includes both Marlow and Adrius’s perspectives. Since Adrius won’t speak to Marlow in the early parts of the book, this keeps both of them at the center of the story and helps reveal information about the mystery as Adrius and Marlow each discover clues themselves.

There’s a side romance that’s barely hinted at in Garden of the Cursed that I loved seeing develop here. It added a lot to both of the characters involved and strengthened the community around Adrius and Marlow, too.

For the most part, I rocketed through reading this book as quickly as I did the first one. It’s fast-paced and romantic, so I found it easy to keep turning pages and reading more. There are a couple of moments, though, where things happen kind of out of the blue. At one point, Adrius knocks on Marlow’s door and reveals he’s been working on something for her that is never mentioned in any of the earlier scenes from his point of view. In a few pages, unannounced, he resolves a huge plot point in the whole duology.

So there are a few awfully convenient reveals like that, but I was so invested in the story by that point that they didn’t slow me down. Things like that might require a more deliberate suspension of disbelief in other readers, though.

On the whole, I enjoyed the duology, and I’m really glad I was able to read both books back to back. The second really depends on readers having read the first, so definitely read Garden of the Cursed first.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
A couple of the side characters are queer. Race for some characters is ambiguous.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few F-bombs. Other profanity used fairly infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex. In one scene, a character walks in on two people who appear to be in the middle of making out. In another scene, a character walks in on two characters in bed together.

Spiritual Content
References to gods. Cards contain spells or curses and can be activated by saying a magic word.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Characters fight each other with fists and magic. A character uses magic to torture someone, clearly planning to kill them.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol.

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

Review: The Fate of Magic by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

The Fate of Magic (Witch and Hunter #2)
Sara Raasch and Beth Revis
Sourcebooks Fire
Published October 1, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Fate of Magic

The breathtaking sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller Night of the Witch culminates with a sweeping romance and an epic battle to determine the fate of magic…and the world.

Fritzi is a champion. After escaping the clutches of Dieter Kirch, the sadistic leader of the witch hunters, Fritzi and Otto have taken refuge among the witches of the Black Forest. Fritzi is finally ready to assume her place on the council as the coven’s goddess-chosen champion. Plagued by distrust and self-doubt, Fritzi throws herself into her duty to serve the goddesses . . . until she uncovers a powerful secret that could mean the very undoing of magic itself.

Otto is a warrior. He swears himself to Fritzi as her bonded protector, certain the peaceful unity of a witch and hunter will heal the wounds he helped make. But as the horrifying plot that threatens the Black Forest’s magic comes to light, Otto will have to face his both his past and what it means to bind himself to a magic he does not fully understand.

Shadows loom. Truths are revealed. And as dangers new and old arise, Fritzi and Otto must stand together against everything that threatens magic—even if the biggest threat might be the very bond they share.

My Review

This book concludes the Witch and Hunter duology, picking up soon after the first book ended. The story starts off with Otto and Fritzi preparing for a bonding ceremony and sharing some romantic moments together. The pace of the story builds, with stakes growing ever higher, which sent me rocketing from one chapter to another all the way until the end of the book.

I like that the story made space for Otto and Fritzi’s relationship, even though it wasn’t the central plot of the story. It was nice to enjoy those quiet moments in which they returned to the bond between them and why they cared for one another.

I also enjoyed the intensity of the hunt for the magic stones. It wasn’t clear whether they would be able to find them or get to them first, which kept the intensity high. I’ve seen other books that have a quest like this in which the clues don’t really fit together or feel forced. That isn’t the case here. I liked the way the various clues and the quest unfolded. It felt natural and made sense to me.

I also really appreciated that this is a duology. I was absolutely prepared to read more of the series, but it was a pleasant surprise to find that this one book delivered all the things I’d been waiting for from the story. It might be even better than the first book. I’m not sure. They were both great.

If you like historical fiction with a heaping serving of magic, this is definitely a series to put on your list. Start with Night of the Witch before reading this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are German.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex. A few scenes show a lead into sex, and one briefly describes it.

Spiritual Content
Otto is Catholic but has rejected some of the church’s teachings, especially those regarding killing or hunting witches. Fritzi and other characters serve a trio of goddesses.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief battles. References to torture and brief scenes showing torture. Otto and Fritzi enter a square in which people have been burned at the stake for being witches. In one scene, they discover the bodies of two people who’ve been beheaded. Someone lights someone else on fire. Monsters pursue some characters.

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.