Tag Archives: Magic

Review: Switching Fates by Stacie Ramey

Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, New Adult 18up, Paranormal, , , , , , ,
Switching Fates by Stacie Ramey

Switching Fates
Stacie Ramey
Ally Press
Published February 12, 2021

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Switching Fates

One Lives. One dies. He chooses.

Bryan Rivers will do anything to save his dying girlfriend Courtney—even enlist supernatural help. His ex-girlfriend Rose is a practicing Wiccan, and Bryan pleads with her to use her powers to help. She reluctantly agrees, but like everything in Rose’s world, the remedy is complicated and comes with a serious warning: the kind of powerful magic that Bryan requires involves summoning mythological beings. Specifically, the Three Fates.

Once the Fates appear, their proposition sounds simple: play three rounds of their favorite game, Switching Fates, to win the chance to save Courtney. But it’s a game where Bryan must make the horrifying choice between two lives; which person lives and which person dies. And each round is more challenging and wicked than the last. With the realization that he’s in far over his head, Bryan must figure out how to beat the Fates at their own game.

My Review

I don’t often read books in the New Adult genre, but I like Stacie Ramey’s writing, so when she offered me a copy of her newest book, I couldn’t resist. I’ve been in a little bit of a reading slump lately, where I just haven’t enjoyed reading as much as I usually do, and that’s very odd for me. I think partly because of that, I had a lot of fun reading this book.

One of the reasons I tend not to read a lot of New Adult fiction is that it often contains more graphic sexual content than I’m comfortable reading, but I felt like SWITCHING FATES had a lot of sexual tension without being overly explicit, which I liked.

I also got pretty hooked into the suspense of waiting to see what Bryan would do and whether he would be able to save both Rose and Courtney. I definitely wanted to know what would happen and whether he would find a way through in time, or whether he’d have to make the ultimate terrible choice.

Reading this book felt really indulgent and fun. It was like sitting down to eat a whole box of chocolates. I really enjoyed it even though it’s not my usual go-to genre. It reminded me a little of Amanda Hocking’s Watersong series, so I think fans of those books would really like SWITCHING FATES.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 18 up.

Representation
The major characters are white. Rose is a practicing Wiccan.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Some groping over clothes. In one scene a boy takes a girl’s pants off. In another, he reaches under a girl’s shirt. There’s a brief description of sex and some references to it.

Spiritual Content
Rose is a practicing Wiccan who performs a spell meant to save Bryan’s girlfriend from death. Instead, she summons the Fates, three powerful, immortal women who have the ability to control who lives or dies.

Violent Content – Trigger Warning
One scene shows a girl dying after she jumps off a roof and hits her head. Some scenes show characters bound and gagged. Someone beats them with a stick or switch.

There are also some references to a suicide attempt in the past. Bryan discovered the survivor immediately after she’d made the attempt, so there’s some description of what he saw and some references to scars left from that incident.

Drug Content
Bryan attends a party and drinks alcohol with his friends. He sees at least a couple people taking Ecstasy. There are a couple other references to hard drug use and smoking pot.

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

Review: Cast in Firelight by Dana Swift

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

Cast in Firelight (Wickery #1)
Dana Swift
Delacorte Press
Published January 19, 2021

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Cast in Firelight

Adraa is the royal heir of Belwar, a talented witch on the cusp of taking her royal ceremony test, and a girl who just wants to prove her worth to her people.

Jatin is the royal heir to Naupure, a competitive wizard who’s mastered all nine colors of magic, and a boy anxious to return home for the first time since he was a child.

Together, their arranged marriage will unite two of Wickery’s most powerful kingdoms. But after years of rivalry from afar, Adraa and Jatin only agree on one thing: their reunion will be anything but sweet.

Only, destiny has other plans and with the criminal underbelly of Belwar suddenly making a move for control, their paths cross…and neither realizes who the other is, adopting separate secret identities instead.

Between dodging deathly spells and keeping their true selves hidden, the pair must learn to put their trust in the other if either is to uncover the real threat. Now Wickery’s fate is in the hands of rivals..? Fiancées..? Partners..? Whatever they are, it’s complicated and bound for greatness or destruction.

My Review

I really liked the concept of this book, and I’m generally a fan of the enemies-to-lovers types of stories, so CAST IN FIRELIGHT definitely has that going for it. I liked Adraa and how quirky and awkward she is, too.

There were a few things I struggled with, though. One was the magic system. It’s nine different types and coordinating gods/goddesses and colors. That made it a lot to keep track of, but also characters that then could use most or all types of magic seemed almost too powerful?

I also had a hard time understanding some of the structure of the royal family/palace. Like, I couldn’t understand if the palace was just really small, with a really small staff? (Was the kitchen maid the same girl who styled Adraa’s hair?) Sometimes things happened that seemed strange, like when a guard takes Adraa to his room to speak with her privately. Wouldn’t that be a huge breach in propriety? And with the prince’s fiancée??

They were small things, so it wasn’t hard to kind of just shrug and move past them to see where the rest of the story was going. I liked that it had a lot of twists and turns, and I definitely wanted to know where Adraa and Jatin’s relationship would head, so I was definitely invested in the story.

I also appreciated the author’s note at the end of the book explaining that while it’s not an #ownvoices story, she wrote the book for her children, who will be Indian. That and the nod to her husband’s family was really sweet.

I feel like this book would be a good one for middle school readers. It’s solidly a young adult book, but not really dark or gritty, so a great fit for readers who need something a bit lighter– readers who read and enjoyed The Lunar Chronicles, for instance.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are Indian-coded characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Characters use “blood” as a swear word.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. At one point a boy and girl fall asleep on top of a building, and he teases her about them “sleeping together”.

There are references to some sexual bullying.

Spiritual Content
Nine gods and goddesses have the power to bestow gifts of different types (and colors) of magic on humans.

Violent Content
Some battle violence and situations of peril.

Drug Content
Some people use a powerful drug called Bloodlurst that causes enhanced magic for a time before causing damage. It’s viewed very negatively in the story, and Adraa is working hard to try to stop a group which sells the drug to her people.

Note: I received a free copy of CAST IN FIRELIGHT 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: We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

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

We Hunt the Flame
Hafsah Faizal
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published May 14, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About We Hunt the Flame

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways.

Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Set in a richly detailed world inspired by ancient Arabia, WE HUNT THE FLAME is a gripping debut of discovery, conquering fear, and taking identity into your own hands.

My Review

I read some conflicting reviews of this book before actually sitting down to read it myself, so I was pretty nervous about reading it.

Turns out I didn’t need to worry, though, because I enjoyed the story a lot. The very beginning basically reminded me of what I’d hoped A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES would be. (I DNF’d that book because I couldn’t get past the family dynamics between the main character and her sisters and father. I know, tons of people love the series… it just isn’t for me.)

I’m a huge fan of those angsty heroes who, against all odds, still want to do the right thing. I felt like Nasir hit all those notes for me. He’s an assassin, made to be a cold, unfeeling weapon, and yet, he’s so human and so vulnerable underneath his chilling exterior.

Zafira is tough and smart, and she also feels like she has to put aside her emotions in order to succeed at her quest. But is she stronger without her emotions, really? I love stories that explore those kinds of questions, and WE HUNT THE FLAME totally satisfied on that exploration.

For some reason, though, I didn’t expect it to be an ensemble cast. I assumed that at some point Zafira and Nasir would make a necessary but uneasy alliance but that it would be just the two of them. At first I didn’t invest in the rest of the team because I didn’t expect them to be around long. But as I got to know them, I liked them more and more. (It took me the longest to warm up to Altair, but by the end, I am solidly a fan, and I need to know what happens to him next!)

I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were deep and engaging, and the story of a land cursed and the quest to break that curse and return magic to the people definitely hooked me. I can’t wait to read the second book in the series, WE FREE THE STARS, which is currently scheduled to come out in January 2021. I think readers who enjoyed SIX OF CROWS or AN EMBER IN THE ASHES will love this one.

Content Notes for We Hunt the Flame

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Set in a fantasy world inspired by ancient Arabia.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some faux curses like, “Skies.” Some curses in Arabic used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Strong sexual tension– lots of meaningful glances and obvious attraction. Some sensual kissing.

Spiritual Content
Lots of magic. Six sisters with powerful magic once ruled the kingdom, including one who imprisoned evil on an island. On that island there are creatures who impersonate people to trick or confuse Zafira and Nasir and their allies. Shadows and dark make up some magic. A powerful magical being appears to be possessing and controlling someone else.

Violent Content
Scenes show combat between Zaphira, Nasir and their allies and others. Some descriptions of torture that Nasir endured at the hands of his father and an enemy. Brief descriptions of torture.

Drug Content
Some social alcohol drinking.

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

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

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

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

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: The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

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

The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising #1)
Kiersten White
Delacorte Press
Published November 5, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About The Guinevere Deception

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot.

There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

My Review

THIS is the female-centered Arthur retelling that I’ve been waiting for. I remember loving the idea of taking the legend of King Arthur and retelling it from a female point-of-view when I first heard about the book CURSED by Thomas Wheeler. CURSED tells the story of Arthur’s rise from the point-of-view of a Druid woman who becomes the Lady of the Lake. It was a cool book, cool idea, but the level of violence and focus on battles were a struggle for me.

So I left that book feeling like I still hadn’t seen a female-centered retelling that appealed to me. And then I found this book. Oh. My. Gosh.

I feel like one thing the book does really well is to deliver the sense of magic and honor and awe that other tales of Camelot and King Arthur inspire. King Arthur, though he’s not the main character, retains that visionary, every-man’s-king-ness that I think of as really essential to his character. Camelot also has this shiny, fairy-tale quality to it that I didn’t realize I hoped for.

By far the most amazing thing about this book, to me, is the way the female characters own the story. It’s wholly Guinevere’s tale. She’s the hero, the one piecing things together to uncover threats to the kingdom. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that eventually, there will be a face-off between Guinevere and a Dark Queen, a force of evil magic. I loved that even in this, the story focuses on its ladies.

There are a couple of female side characters who added a lot to the story, too, but I don’t want to say too much about them, because I don’t want to give any spoilers. Just know that there is a lot to look forward to in the cast of this book.

This is the first book by Kiersten White that I’ve read, and I loved the storytelling and the writing enough that now I want to read everything she has ever written. I think this is going to be a series you need to read in order, so I do recommend starting with this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Characters are mainly white/English. One side character is a lesbian. Another side character says that when she dresses as a woman, it feels like a lie, so she dresses as a man.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Brief strong profanity and crude language. Mainly it’s used to describe what Camelot was when Arthur became king. Sewage flowed in the streets and some of the street names reflected this fact. Then Arthur arranged for a group of kids to collect everyone’s chamber pots and empty them away from the streets.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Reference to a girl in love with another girl. Some vague reference to sex/pregnancy and how quickly Guinevere will provide Arthur an heir.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to do magic. Guinevere mainly uses what she calls knot magic, where she literally ties knots for protection and other purposes. She can also touch things and have a sense of their identity and where they’ve come from. A Dark Queen intends to use magic to destroy civilization. Magic is chaos. Arthur’s rule is order. The two cannot exist together.

Violent Content
Some battle violence. Guinevere meets a man who was accused of raping more than one woman. He suggests that he would like to do the same to her.

Drug Content
Social drinking at dinner and parties.

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

Review: Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao

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

Broken Wish (The Mirror #1)
Julie C. Dao
Disney-Hyperion
Published October 6, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Broken Wish

1865
Hanau, Germany

Sixteen-year-old Elva has a secret. She has visions and strange powers that she will do anything to hide. She knows the warnings about what happens to witches in their small village of Hanau. She’s heard the terrible things people say about the Witch of the North Woods, and the malicious hunts that follow. But when Elva accidentally witnesses a devastating vision of the future, she decides she has to do everything she can to prevent it.

Tapping into her powers for the first time, Elva discovers a magical mirror and its owner—none other than the Witch of the North Woods herself. As Elva learns more about her burgeoning magic, and the lines between hero and villain start to blur, she must find a way to right past wrongs before it’s too late.

My Review

BROKEN WISH was not the book I expected it to be. (Not in a bad way!) I thought it might be dark, the way that FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS is. I thought it would be strictly from Elva’s point-of-view.

It’s not nearly as dark as Dao’s debut novel, which didn’t bother me at all. I liked the sort of quaint, small town feel of Hanau, where the story is set. There are a few references to Grimm’s fairy tales, and the setting of the story definitely felt like a place where those tales would happen.

The story isn’t limited to one point-of-view. The early chapters are told from the perspective of Elva’s mother, who befriends a solitary neighbor and later learns that she’s a witch with the power to give her the one thing she desperately wants– the ability to have a child– in exchange for her friendship.

BROKEN WISH then shifts to Elva’s point-of-view, and we learn about her special gift and the struggle she faces: she must either hide her gift forever or risk being exiled, or worse. She’s a sweet girl who wants to believe the best of everyone. I loved her courage and her unwavering commitment to the people she loved.

Another thing that I enjoyed is that BROKEN WISH is mainly a story of female friendships. Agnes (Elva’s mother) and her relationship with Mathilde (the solitary neighbor with magical abilities), and then Elva’s relationship with Mathilde, both as mentor and friend.

On the whole, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I’m really excited to read the rest of the series, which looks like it’ll be four books, each written by a different author. The next book in the series will be SHATTERED MIDNIGHT by Dhonielle Clayton and will be set in New Orleans in 1928.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white and German. Mathilde grew up with an aunt and her female partner.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
No profanity. In one scene, a woman makes reference to a group of men saying awful things about her, some of them sexual.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Mathilde and Elva both have magical abilities. Performing magic requires a kind of exchange, and if the exchange is not met, the magic can take an unexpected price.

Violent Content
Children sicken after eating poisoned candy. A group of angry men say cruel things to a woman and call for her to be hanged.

Drug Content
Elva’s parents drink alcohol at a party.

Note: I received a free copy of BROKEN WISH 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.