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Review: Queen of Faces by Petra Lord

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Queen of Faces by Petra Lord

Queen of Faces
Petra Lord
Henry Holt & Co.
Published February 3, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Queen of Faces

This dark academia fantasy follows a desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy who faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, Brandon Sanderson, Lev Grossman, and R.F. Kuang.

Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it’s rotting from the inside out. But Ana can’t afford to escape it, even as the wealthiest in Caimor buy and discard expensive designer bodies without a thought. When she fails to gain admittance to the prestigious Paragon Academy—and access to the healthy new forms the school provides its students—her final hope implodes. Now without options, Ana must use her illusion magic to try to steal a healthy chassis—before her own kills her.

But Ana is caught by none other than the headmaster of Paragon Academy, who poses a brutal ultimatum: face execution for her crime or become a mercenary at his command. Revolt brews in Caimor’s smog-choked underworld, and the wealthy and powerful will stop at nothing to take down the rebels and the infamous dark witch at their helm, the Black Wraith.

With no choice but to accept, Ana will steal, fight, and kill her way to salvation. But her survival depends on a dangerous band of renegades: an impulsive assassin, a brooding bombmaker, and an alluring exile who might just spell her ruin. As Ana is drawn into a tangled web of secrets, the line between villain and hero shatters—and Ana must decide which side is worth dying for.

My Review

I wasn’t sure I totally understood what kind of book I was getting into from the cover copy. However, once I got into the story, I was really into it.

The chapters alternate between Ana and Wes, who plans to use Ana as a means to get back the life he was booted out of. A few chapters from other viewpoints appear as well, but mostly we alternate between those two.

In the story, a human body is an external, swappable thing. One’s personal identity, memories, magical ability, and intelligence, or Pith, can be transferred from one body, or chassis, to the next.

It’s an interesting mechanic that allows the author to explore the difference between biological gender and gender identity. The characters don’t all have the same experience with switching to new bodies. Ana, for example, identifies strongly as female, so being in a male-presenting body is upsetting and troubling to her. Wes, who has recently switched from a female-presenting to a male-presenting body, is much less troubled by the change. Each character has an individual experience with this, which felt very organic to me.

I also really appreciated that Lord brought Ana’s strategic thinking to the page in an engaging way. I’ve read books where the main character is supposed to be a very strategic thinker, but where I felt like I was simply supposed to take the author’s word for it. Here, we see Ana think things through and analyze in real time, but without slowing down the story. I thought that element of the book was particularly nicely done.

Queen of Faces is the start of a series. I’m eager to see where the story goes next. I think fans of stories like Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo or books that explore gender in a more unconventional way, like Every Day by David Levithan will appreciate this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Vague references to characters spending the night with a partner. (Not shown on scene.)

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic. In the story world, characters revere prophets of old.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to torture. (Not shown on scene.) A few scenes show characters experiencing cruel/abusive treatment by their employers or mentors. Battle scenes with some extensive injuries.

Drug Content
One minor character uses a powerful drug in the form of a worm.

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: Some of Us Are Brave by Saadia Faruqi

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Some of Us Are Brave
Saadia Faruqi
Quill Tree Books
Published February 10, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Some of Us Are Brave

From the acclaimed author of The Strongest Heart comes a stirring new novel from the perspectives of three very different kids who are navigating the waters of fear and friendship through the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

It’s a humid summer in Houston, Texas, and Yasir is dreaming of being soccer team captain—if only he could get the team bully, Cody, off his back, and maybe impress his sort-of-crush, Mona. Meanwhile, Mona is turning her nightmares into art, and Cody’s home life feels as tense as the storm literally brewing down the coast.

When Hurricane Harvey makes landfall, the three kids could hardly be called friends. But as their regular lives fall apart and rising floodwaters pull them together, Mona, Cody, and Yasir will need to work as a team if they want to survive. The hurricane will churn up their deepest fears and cement their bond forever—if it doesn’t tear them apart.

My Review

My sister moved to Texas right after Hurricane Harvey passed through, but I hadn’t realized how devastating this storm was for many people living in Houston. This happened in 2017, which, it’s hard to believe, was almost nine years ago.

Writing about a hurricane and keeping the story middle grade level must have been challenging. Yet, so many children experience natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes every year. Still others wonder what that would be like.

In this book, the young characters remain at the center of the story, making decisions and facing their fears. The story alternates between Mona, Cody, and Yasir’s perspectives. Each one faces a fear of some kind, from Cody’s fear of the dark to Mona’s recurring nightmare about being trapped by a flood, to Yasir’s paralyzing fear of the water after his near-drowning the previous summer.

The storm brings these three unlikely allies together, and a tentative friendship forms. They learn to trust one another and lean on each other for support. As the storm overhead clears, they realize the work of recovery has just begun, and new opportunities emerge for them to help and support one another.

I loved the way that Faruqi uses ordinary childhood activities, like playing soccer and attending summer camp, to put the three narrators into the same orbit. I loved that Mona explores her fear of being trapped by a flood through exploring myths and faith stories about a massive flood. Her experience, and later, the boys’ experiences, model approaching fear with curiosity. I thought that was really cool.

All in all, this is a great book for young readers curious about what it’s like to survive a hurricane or for readers interested in stories about characters facing their fears.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Occasional use of faux swear words, like “frakk.”

Romance/Sexual Content
Two characters have a crush on each other.

Spiritual Content
Mona learns about flood stories from different faiths and mythologies. Yasir prays with another Muslim family in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to child abuse and adult abusive behavior. (A parent locks a boy in an outside shed overnight to punish him. References to physical violence – not shown on scene.) Reference to hurricane survivors waiting for rescue in flooded homes. A news report notes the total number of deaths resulting from Hurricane Harvey.

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: Carnival Fantástico by Angela Montoya

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

Carnival Fantástico
Angela Montoya
Joy Revolution
Published February 3, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Carnival Fantástico

An unputdownable romantasy following a young woman posing as fortune-teller at a magical traveling carnival, where the handsome boy who once broke her heart resurfaces and warns her that carnival is more sinister than it appears.

Welcome to the Carnival Fantástico, a spectacle of magic and mischief, and the perfect haven for a runaway. Using her tricks and razor-sharp wit, Esmeralda becomes the carnival’s resident fortune-teller, aiming for the lead role in the Big Top Show. Success would mean freedom from her former employer, the commander of the King’s army.

Ignacio has defected from the army and is on the hunt for evidence of his father’s corruption. But the last thing he expects to find on his father’s trail of lies is the only girl he’s ever loved, spinning false fortunes at a traveling carnival.

Perhaps fortune has thrown them together for a reason. They strike a deal: she’ll help him expose his father if he helps her secure the main act. But old feelings don’t die easily, and the commander’s secret isn’t the only thing they’ll need to confront.

My Review

I really enjoyed the story world in this novel. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding the magic at the carnival. Wanting to understand where the magic came from, and whether it was good or bad kept me turning pages. The carnival itself reminded me a little bit more of Hotel Magnifique than Caraval, though Carnival Fantástico has some similarities to both. The romance dominates this story, which makes sense for a romantasy novel.

Periodically, notes Esmerelda and Ignacio exchanged in the past appear, shedding light on their connection. Before long, it becomes obvious that they’ve had a misunderstanding. They do eventually confront some truths from their pasts, but it takes a long time for them to question what they believe happened, even though they both based some of their understanding of events on messages from someone they both agree is untrustworthy. It requires a little suspension of disbelief, but I think it’s also supposed to suggest that the person who misled them has more power than they realize.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this one, and it made me want to go back and reread some of the other magical circus-type stories that I’ve read before. If you like Caraval or magic circus stories with a strong romantic thread, definitely take a look at this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Vague references to characters having had sex in the past.

Spiritual Content
Some characters have the ability to perform magic.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to kidnapping, imprisonment, and enslavement. Brief descriptions of accidental injuries. Brief, scary descriptions of a powerful entity harming someone.

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.

MMGM Review: The Lion’s Run by Sarah Pennypacker

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The Lion’s Run
Sarah Pennypacker
Illustrated by Jon Klassen
Balzer + Bray
Published February 3, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Lion’s Run

The acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of Pax delivers an historical novel about an orphan during WWII who discovers unexpected courage within himself when he becomes involved with the Resistance.

Petit éclair. That’s what the other boys at the orphanage call Lucas DuBois. Lucas is tired of his cowardly reputation, just as he’s tired of the war and the Nazi occupation of his French village. He longs to show how brave he can be.

He gets the chance when he saves a litter of kittens from cruel boys and brings them to an abandoned stable to care for them. There he comes upon a stranger who is none too happy to see him: Alice, the daughter of a horse trainer, who is hiding her filly from German soldiers.

Soon Lucas begins to realize they are not the only ones in the village with secrets. The housekeeper at the German maternity home and a priest at the orphanage pass coded messages; a young mother at the home makes dangerous plans to keep her baby from forced adoption; and a neighbor in town may be harboring a Jewish family.

Emboldened by the unlikely heroes all around him, Lucas is forced to decide how much he is willing to risk to make the most courageous rescue of all.

Perfect for fans of Alan Gratz, Ruta Sepetys, and Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, this accessible novel, told in short chapters, illuminates a little-known aspect of World War II history.

My Review

I could not put this book down. The author’s note at the beginning explains how Sarah Pennypacker learned about the Lebensborn program and the germination process of the idea that became The Lion’s Run.

The Lebensborn program is a part of history that I wasn’t familiar with. This was a Nazi program through which they planned to create a new generation of blond-haired, blue-eyed Germans. They did this by rounding up teenage girls who were pregnant by Nazi soldiers, imprisoning them in these Lebensborn facilities, where they were well-fed and cared for until the birth of their babies, when they were returned home. The babies were then forced into adoption.

Information about the program is pretty limited to keep the story appropriate for a middle grade audience. Lucas meets one of the moms and her baby and sympathizes with her over her situation. It’s also obvious that the girls living at the Lebensborn are well fed when everyone else in Lucas’s town is not getting enough to eat.

In terms of the story itself, I was wholly engrossed. Lucas wants to be brave and worries he isn’t. Yet, he saves kittens from drowning. He hides them, saving food from his own meager meals to give to the little furry critters. He also insists on helping adults in his life who are in the Resistance.

I loved how the story showed him processing the question of what it means to be brave and to help. What a timely message. This will resonate with both middle grade readers and older readers.

I highly recommend this book. It’s a great pick for readers interested in historical fiction, especially those who enjoy stories set during World War II. I think it’ll appeal to readers who like fast-paced stories, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Lucas delivers groceries to a facility for pregnant teens called a Lebensborn. He befriends one of the young mothers and her newborn. Readers learn about the German initiative to imprison these girls, who are pregnant by Nazi soldiers, for the purpose of producing a new generation of blond-haired, blue-eyed children who are forced into adoptive homes in Germany.

Spiritual Content
Lucas lives at a Catholic convent and speaks with a priest who is part of the Resistance.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A woman tells two boys to drown a litter of kittens they find near the convent. A boy throws a rock and hits another boy in the face. A boy buries broken glass in a dirt road, hoping to damage the tires of a German convoy. The story references other Resistance members who have been sent to concentration camps, or worse.

Drug Content
Before the babies at the Lebensborn are transported to Germany, the nurses add a drug to their milk so they’ll sleep through the trip.

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.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle.

Review: Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar by Anahita Karthik

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

Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar
Anahita Karthik
HarperCollins
Published January 27, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar

“Come for the road trip of a lifetime. Stay for the kissing!”— Meg Cabot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Princess Diaries series.

Buckle up for a wild ride with this cheeky and charming rom-com where one girl’s quest across India to seal her first kiss turns into finding first love in the most unexpected places. Perfect for fans of Axie Oh, Ann Liang, and Jenny Han!

Eighteen-year-old Krishna Kumar may have gotten into her dream college, but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped being a bi disaster. Even after spending her whole summer in India flirting with her gorgeous neighbor Amrit, she has nothing to show for it. And now, her fate is sealed: she’s destined to be the only freshman who’s never been kissed.

Then her flight home is delayed right as a distinctly flirty text from Amrit lights up her phone. Krishna is determined to seize her last chance at a perfect first kiss with her summer crush, even if it means asking her cousin-turned-nemesis, Priti, for help. Because Amrit is miles away at a family wedding—and Priti’s best friend, Rudra Desai, is the only one with a car.

The unlikely trio set off on a road trip to crash a wedding and save Krishna’s summer. But as she starts to fall for the quiet but irresistibly hot and charming Rudra, who everyone knows is unrequitedly in love with Priti, Krishna’s heart better catch up to her head before she skips right past her first kiss and falls directly into her first heartbreak.

My Review

I enjoyed the pacing of this road trip romance. Krishna is a fun narrator, taking readers with her through mishaps, awkwardly blurted comments, and her desperate attempts for a first kiss.

Though at its core, this is a romance, the story also highlights the relationship between Krishna and her cousin, Priti. Krishna doesn’t understand why her cousin became so distant after Krishna’s move to the States, and at first, she is kind of resigned that she’ll never get it. But the close proximity of the road trip forces Krishna to confront more surprising feelings than those she develops for Rudra. As she understands more about why Priti’s behavior changed, she sees a path to reconciliation and realizes how much she misses her cousin. I loved that.

I also loved the romance between Krishna and Rudra. Watching her fall for him and trying to figure him out was lots of fun. There’s one miscommunication toward the end that would have resolved quickly if the two actually talked to one another. Despite that stretch, I am super glad I read this one.

If you’re looking for a road trip romance, definitely check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and making out. References to arousal. Vage references to sex.

Spiritual Content
Krishna visits a holy site with a group. They remove their shoes before entering the site. They attend part of a wedding celebration. Some wedding traditions are briefly described.

Violent Content
In a couple of scenes, men eye Priti and Krishna or call out at them in a suggestive way.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a party and a nightclub. Whether they’re of legal drinking age isn’t discussed, but they could be. Several unfortunate things happen when a character drinks too much.

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: Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen

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Her Name in the Sky
Kelly Quindlen
Roaring Brook Press
Published January 27, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Her Name in the Sky

Hannah wants to spend her senior year of high school going to football games and Mardi Gras parties with her tight-knit group of friends.

The last thing she wants is to fall in love with a girl–especially when that girl is her best friend, Baker.

Hannah knows she should like Wally, the kind, earnest boy who asks her to prom. She should cheer on her friend Clay when he asks Baker to be his girlfriend. She should follow the rules of her conservative Louisiana community–the rules that have been ingrained in her since she was a child.

But Hannah longs to be with Baker, who cooks macaroni and cheese with Hannah late at night, who believes in the magic of books as much as Hannah does, and who challenges Hannah to be the best version of herself.

And Baker might want to be with Hannah, too–if both girls can embrace that world-shaking, yet wondrous, possibility.

My Review

This book originally came out in 2012 but is being re-released in 2026. This year, I read it for the first time. Kelly Quindlen is a new author for me as well. I’d heard of her books, but hadn’t read them before.

The thing that I think this book does absolutely brilliantly is to capture Hannah’s emotional and spiritual journey. We see her wrestle with her faith and her identity in heartbreaking, anguished scenes. I love that Quindlen shows this, not once, but as an ongoing process for Hannah.

I also like that the book shows characters with a spectrum of beliefs. Some support Hannah immediately, while others seem to want to opt out of responding to her at all, and others target her with cruel words.

The relationship between Hannah and Joanie, her sister, was really nicely done. Joanie absolutely had my heart by the end of the book. If there’s ever a spinoff novel about her, I need to read it. The way that she and Hannah navigate their estrangement and reconciliation felt so much like true sisterhood.

The only thing I struggled with was how much time the characters spent drinking alcohol. In fairness, some of those scenes weren’t really about casual drinking, but showed an unhealthy pattern that involved drinking or needing to be drunk in order to do certain things. So from a plot perspective, it was an integrated part of the story and evidence of some destructive behavior. (Mainly an attempt at shame-avoidance.)

There’s a scene toward the end where a dad confronts a man who’s saying some homophobic things, and I need more dads like this in young adult literature and everywhere. I cheered at how both parents handled one moment in the book.

Reading this book was such an emotional roller coaster, in all the ways it was meant to be. I feel like I bawled through almost half of the story. It’s really moving. Definitely grab you some tissues for this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. Brief descriptions of and references to sex.

Spiritual Content
The main characters attend a Catholic school. The school’s priest speaks about spiritual topics. Hannah wrestles with questions about whether her identity as a lesbian makes her bad and shameful. The priest’s teaching says it does. Another teacher tells her it doesn’t.

Violent Content
Some homophobic statements and behavior. A girl shoves another girl. Two boys get into a fistfight that starts a brawl.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol in several scenes. One teen drinks alcohol as part of a self-destructive spiral and nearly ends up hospitalized.

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.