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Review: Embrace the Serpent by Sunya Mara

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Embrace the Serpent by Sunya Mara

Embrace the Serpent
Sunya Mara
HarperCollins
Published June 24, 2025

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About Embrace the Serpent

In this sweeping romantic fantasy, a dangerous deal binds a young jeweler’s apprentice to the mysterious Serpent King in a marriage of convenience, thrusting her into a deadly game between the cunning, fearsome ruler and his rebellious huntsman. Perfect for fans of The Wrath & the Dawn and Once Upon a Broken Heart!

The Serpent King has come to find his bride, and with his arrival festivities sweep through the city. Inside and outside the Rose Palace await women from across the six kingdoms determined to become his new bride-to-be—all except for eighteen-year-old Saphira.

After escaping life as a palace ward under the cruel djinn Lady Incarnadine, Saphira now works as the apprentice to the unscrupulous jewelsmith Galen. Out of fear of being discovered, she hides her rare gift for harnessing the magic in gemstones and lets Galen take credit for her craft.

But when Galen makes a boast that ruffles the court, Lady Incarnadine punishes him with an impossible task—one that threatens to drag Saphira back into Incarnadine’s grasp. Desperate to avoid this fate, Saphira strikes a dangerous deal with Rane, the enigmatic huntsman sent by the Serpent King to find the best jewelsmith in the empire.

Rane promises that if Saphira crafts a mysterious piece for his master, the Serpent King will grant her a new identity and freedom. But when their plans go awry and the only way out is to marry the Serpent King, Saphira becomes entangled in the dangerous affairs of kingdoms and empires—caught between the cunning, handsome Rane and her cold, serpentine husband.

My Review

I remember really liking Sunya Mara’s debut novel, so I’ve been really excited about this one. I think I liked it even better than what I read before. There were moments that I thought this was going to be a duology, especially as we learned some critical information about the Serpent King’s empire. The last several chapters of the book moved really fast. If that had been expanded and some additional subplots and conflicts happened, it probably could have been a duology.

I think I actually prefer the standalone, though. I loved getting to read the entire story in one sitting. Finding out what happens with Saphira and how she navigates her unplanned/fake marriage was a lot of fun. A saw one thing coming, but then when it happened, I was excited and relieved. I didn’t mind that I’d spotted it before it was revealed.

Saphira’s experience as a jeweler and her obvious past trauma make her a character it was easy to care about immediately. She’s got this whole carefully balanced life that any number of things could upset. I knew we were in for a wild adventure.

She also has a sweet relationship with a golem that she’s created. I loved the way that that developed over the course of the story, too. He’s like a protector and friend, and they look out for each other.

Embrace the Serpent is one of my favorite young adult fantasies of this summer so far. I’m so glad I had a chance to read it, and I’m eagerly anticipating what Sunya Mara will write next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. In one scene the characters undress and the scene ends.

Spiritual Content
Some characters are magical beings and can transform. Other characters have some magical ability or influence. Saphira can create jewelry with magical ability through the power in different precious stones.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A few battle scenes with injuries. References to execution or imprisonment.

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: Greenwild: The Forest in the Sky by Pari Thomson

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Greenwild: The Forest in the Sky (Greenwild #3)
Pari Thomson
Farrar, Straus, & Giroux
Published June 3, 2025

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About Greenwild: The Forest in the Sky

The Secret Garden meets A Wrinkle in Time in the spellbinding final book of the New York Times-bestselling Greenwild series.

Daisy and her friends may have defeated the Grim Reapers in Iffenwild, but it’s clear that the battle for the Greenwild is only just beginning…

With the support of the Iffenwilders and their mighty water magic, Daisy and her friends are finally setting off to rescue the Botanists held prisoner in the heart of the Amazon rainforest – including Daisy’s ma and the Prof’s grandfather.

But when an unexpected attack sends the rescue mission spinning off course, Daisy, Indigo, and the Prof find themselves in the Amazon alone – where they must draw on every ounce of their courage, magic, and ingenuity to survive. This is a battle that can’t be won single-handedly, and Daisy will need the support of her new friend Max, a strange Grayside girl called Fen, and the massed might of the Amazerians, guardians of the biggest and most magical pocket in the Greenwild – if she is to take on the Reapers once and for all.

Readers will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to the Greenwild series.

My Review

I’ve been eagerly following this series from the very beginning. Reading the last book in a series is always bittersweet, because it means the characters’ journeys end, but it also means we know how the story plays out. I saved reading this one for the perfect moment in my recovery, when I’d be able to read far past bedtime and get completely lost in the pages.

The story follows two groups of characters. First, there’s Daisy, Indigo, and Prof, who head off to the Amazon to find the Greenwild pocket of Amazeria. Then, there’s Max and Acorn, who try to follow them and end up on a separate adventure. The chapters alternate between Daisy and Max’s points of view. I think the chapters from Max’s perspective had a sweet tenderness to them as he discovered things about his family members that he never knew and had the space to grow into his magic and his identity.

I also liked the way that magic is used through the course of the book. Daisy can talk to plants and do some plant magic. Indigo can talk to animals. Max has water magic. These abilities come in handy in sometimes unexpected ways. I liked that all of them had value and limits, so no one ability was outsized.

The ending of the book unfolds so quickly. (Or maybe I just read it quickly because I was so eager??) There were a couple of moments in which the identity of some characters is revealed, and I found myself wishing we’d lingered in that realization a little bit more. It was totally okay as is. I don’t think any of those reveals were shortchanged. Possibly, I just wanted longer to revel in the ending of the book and to spend a little more time in this rich story world.

I think readers who enjoy rich, magical fantasy stories will really enjoy getting lost in this botanical series. The story explores family relationships and found family as well as finding courage and bravery within oneself. It’s got strong positive messages and a powerful, hopeful message.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Vague references to a possible crush between characters.

Spiritual Content
Some characters can do magic. There’s green magic, or magic involving plants and blue magic, or magic involving water.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief battles between Reapers and Botanists. In one scene, Caimans chase the characters. One bites a character (happens off-scene). Reference to a quarrel that ends in murder (happens off-scene). Someone offers themselves to an enemy in place of another character. In one scene, a falling tree lands on a cat.

Drug Content
Plants cause dreams, remedy illnesses, and cause confusion, depending on the type and use.

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: Heir of Storms by Lauryn Hamilton Murray

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Heir of Storms (Storm Weaver #1)
Lauryn Hamilton Murray
Roaring Brook Press
Published June 3, 2025

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About Heir of Storms

Red Queen meets Shadow and Bone in this explosive start to a YA romantasy trilogy about dangerous magic, forbidden love, and a cut-throat competition for the throne in an empire where crowns are not inherited — they’re won.

The very day Blaze came into the world, she almost drowned it. A Rain Singer born into one of the most powerful fire-wielding families in the empire, Blaze’s birth summoned a devastating storm that left thousands dead. She’s been hidden away ever since with a dark secret: the same torrential power that branded her an outcast disappeared that fateful day. And she’s not sure she wants it back.

When an unexpected invitation arrives for Blaze and her twin brother, Flint, to compete as future rulers of the empire, she’s suddenly thrust into the limelight again — and into battle. Threats abound at the Golden Palace, where intrigue and romance await with not one but two handsome suitors: the enchanting Crown Prince and a dangerously alluring newcomer at court.

As Blaze explores her untapped power, she discovers the throne may be within her grasp. But in order to take it, she’ll have to leave behind the stories that others have told about her, and find the courage to write her own.

My Review

Wow. Okay. I am having a hard time organizing my thoughts about this one. It was super easy to read. I just had surgery, so I was struggling to get back into reading, having a hard time focusing, stuff like that. And when I picked up this book, the story immediately drew me in.

Blaze has a lot of guilt. She’s a twin child in a family with powerful fire magic, but she somehow has water magic. And not just water magic, but water magic that killed a ton of people on the day she was born.

I thought it was interesting that the book created this moment to focus on what might happen when babies are born with magic power. She had no understanding of what she was doing to anyone else. She was literally a baby. And yet, people died. It’s one of those things that maybe other magic-based fantasies skim past or overlook. It was interesting for this book to highlight that and make it a critical moment in Blaze’s life.

I loved the magic competition. Basically, the gods of the story world determine when it’s time to pass the crown to the next generation. When this happens, there’s an eclipse. Competitors with different types of magic fight for the top positions serving the emperor as kings or queens. They remain rulers of their own magic users and serve as advisors to the emperor. So that process begins and Blaze, of course, must compete.

The competition brings up some interesting magic rules and political intrigue. Blaze herself feels caught between the attention of two powerful guys. I wasn’t the biggest fan of either one of them, but I’m intrigued to see where the story goes. The conclusion of the book kind of makes it clear who the true love interest is, and I think I’m willing to see if he’s actually worthy of her.

Conclusion

Overall, I definitely see the comparisons to Red Queen and Shadow and Bone. There’s a lot of politics and magic, as well as at least one possible love interest who might turn out to be the villain? I will absolutely follow this series into the second book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Some characters are born with the ability to do certain kinds of magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Bullying. Battle scenes. One character is enslaved.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol at social functions. One character gets very drunk on a painful anniversary.

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: Storm Singer by Sarwat Chadda

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Storm Singer
Sarwat Chadda
Rick Riordan Presents
Published April 15, 2025

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About Storm Singer

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief meets One Thousand and One Nights in this thrilling middle grade fantasy from Rick Riordan Presents author Sarwat Chadda about a girl with the magical power to control the elements with her song.

In a land ruled by fierce winged warriors known as eagle garudas, twelve-year-old Nargis is just a poor, lowly human, a Worm who hates the garudas that killed her parents. But even though she can’t fly—and her childhood attempt left her walking with a crutch—she is far from powerless. Nargis is a spirit able to coax small bits of wind, water, fire, and earth to do her bidding through song…well, sometimes.

When Nargis loses control of her power in a high-stakes kite fight, she is exiled. Cast into the desert, she discovers Mistral, an injured boy who turns out to be an eagle garuda, the prince of her enemies! He’s on a mission to take back his throne from a terrible vulture garuda. In spite of their mutual distrust, the two have no choice but to forge an unlikely alliance if they want to escape the desert alive.

And as Nargis and Mistral battle dangerous assassins, befriend crafty sky pirates, and sneak into the mysterious sky castle of Alamut, Nargis discovers she carries a family secret, one that could bring Monsoon’s rains back to the desert, but only if she’s willing to risk her life in the bargain…

My Review

This book covers so much ground in its 368 pages! We meet Nargis, a Spirit Singer, who can speak to spirits such as wind and fire and ask them for their help. She is still learning her craft and makes many mistakes along the way. The discovery of a wounded stranger sets Nargis off on a somewhat unwilling quest to save her village. This proves challenging for her as an old injury that didn’t heal properly makes it difficult for her to walk without a crutch.

I enjoyed the banter between Nargis and Mistral, the garuda she agrees to help. They have very different backgrounds and beliefs about one another’s culture, so they frequently clash over those ideas or prejudices. The longer they travel together, though, the more they come to respect and trust one another.

At one point, they team up with twin sisters who ride a giant owl. Those girls added some energy and humor to the scenes in which they appeared, too. It also further showed what a diverse world Nargis lived in, and how isolated the communities had become from one another.

Storm Singer was an engaging read. I think it’s a standalone, too, which I love to see in fantasy. It’s nice to have some books where we can enjoy a complete story arc all in one book, especially for people like me who struggle to keep up with a series or remember all the relevant plot points between books. Ha!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Some characters can see and interact with spirits of the earth, wind, water, and fire. Some characters are based on or inspired by Hindu mythology.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Nargis is present when her parents are murdered. She hears what happened, but she can’t see anything. Some scenes describe battles between characters. Descriptions of how a snake and other predator eat their prey are a little graphic. Very brief, though.

Drug Content
A man hides a sleep-inducing substance in a bowl of soup to subdue enemies and escape from them.

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: Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring Blake

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Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea
Ashley Herring Blake
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published May 25, 2021

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About Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea

A poignant yet hopeful novel about a girl navigating grief, trauma, and friendship, from Ashley Herring Blake, the award-winning author of Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World.

Hazel Bly used to live in the perfect house with the perfect family in sunny California. But when a kayaking trip goes horribly wrong, Mum is suddenly gone forever and Hazel is left with crippling anxiety and a jagged scar on her face. After Mum’s death, Hazel, her other mother, Mama, and her little sister, Peach, need a fresh start. So for the last two years, the Bly girls have lived all over the country, never settling anywhere for more than a few months.

When the family arrives in Rose Harbor, Maine, there’s a wildness to the small town that feels like magic. But when Mama runs into an old childhood friend—Claire—suddenly Hazel’s tight-knit world is infiltrated. To make it worse, she has a daughter Hazel’s age, Lemon, who can’t stop rambling on and on about the Rose Maid, a local 150-year-old mermaid myth.

Soon, Hazel finds herself just as obsessed with the Rose Maid as Lemon is—because what if magic were real? What if grief really could change you so much, you weren’t even yourself anymore? And what if instead you emerged from the darkness stronger than before?

My Review

This book has been on my reading list for a long time. I finally managed to read it in a book club with other KidLit reviewers, which was a super exciting experience. I get to talk about a book that I read with other humans who have read it! JOY!

Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea is one of those books that has a lot going on in it, but the author manages the flow of information, character development, and pacing so well that I didn’t really notice just how much was going on until sitting down to write this review.

The book has a hair of magical realism in it, which I loved. It’s kind of there and up to you what you believe about what happened. It’s left open to interpretation, which I loved.

The characters were really nicely done. Hazel meets three kids who are all part of an Ocean Club summer program. One girl, Lemon, is so enthusiastic. I loved the way that her enthusiasm made her resilient and helped her bulldoze past some of Hazel’s grief-driven frostiness. I also loved Lemon’s two closest friends. They’re protective of Lemon in a way that makes so much sense as we learn about their lives and the history of their friendship.

Hazel’s relationship with Mama was such a tender part of this book, too. It was hard to read some of the earlier scenes with those two in them. It’s so clear they are not communicating and that Mama doesn’t grasp what’s going on with Hazel and the deep, unhealed grief and trauma she’s carrying. It feels like she thinks if she ignores Hazel’s anxiety, it’ll go away. That struck a chord for me.

I loved the overall message about how grief changes you and how we need each other as we grieve. I also loved how new relationships, while scary, can be healing, not only for ourselves. In new relationships, we find opportunities to bring healing to others, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some feelings of attraction between one character and another. Adults kissing.

Spiritual Content
Hazel’s mom attends a Summer Solstice party.

Violent Content
Hazel describes a kayaking accident that left her injured and her mum dead. References to a boat sinking and killing passengers a long time ago. Hazel experiences a panic attack.

Drug Content
Hazel hears her mom agree to another glass of wine while on the phone with her.

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 Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner

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The Trouble with Heroes
Kate Messner
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published April 29, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Trouble with Heroes

Bestselling and award-winning author Kate Messner takes readers on a heart-filling journey as a boy finds his path to healing.

One summer.
46 mountain peaks.
A second chance to make things right.

Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who always ran toward danger until he died two years ago. Finn’s about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines . . . until now.

Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he’s in big trouble for kicking down some dead old lady’s headstone. But it turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer…climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks with her dead mother’s dog, and they can call it even.

In a wild three months of misadventures, mountain mud, and unexpected mentors, Finn begins to find his way on the trails. At the top of each peak, he can see for miles and slowly begins to understand more about himself and his dad. But the mountains don’t care about any of that, and as the clock ticks down to September, they have more surprises in store. Finn’s final summit challenge may be more than even a hero can face.

My Review

This story is mostly told in verse with a few letters and articles mixed in. At first, Finn writes poems as part of an English assignment for school. The early poems are written unwillingly, so some of the things he writes are funny from the perspective of watching a kid try to weasel out of doing work. But as he keeps writing, he begins to appreciate poetry as a vehicle to process his thoughts and experiences.

The same is true of his hiking experience. At first, he’s only participating unwillingly. He knows his mom can’t afford to replace the headstone he broke, and this is an alternative way that he can apologize for his behavior and make it right. As he spends more time outdoors, he starts noticing more of the natural world around him and even forms connections with his hiking mentors.

That leads him to process his grief over losing his dad during COVID-19. As the story unfolds, he also learns about connections between his hiking life and his dad’s experiences. I loved some of those connections. One in particular really hits deep, so grab some tissues as you get to the end of the book.

I have enjoyed every book by Kate Messner that I’ve ever read, so it isn’t a huge surprise that I loved this one. I think this is the first novel in verse that I’ve read by her, and I think she did a fabulous job with it.

If you’re looking for a nature-centered book about hiking or a story about a kid who’s made some bad choices and has a chance to turn things around, you’ll want to check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Finn kicked over a headstone in a graveyard and broke it. References to September 11th. References to an injured person carried by a firefighter. The story includes brief memories of the COVID-19 pandemic. References to an animal attack. References to the death of a parent.

Drug Content
Finn’s dad struggled with alcohol addiction.

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.