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Review: Cursed Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

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Cursed Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber cover shows two girls in fancy gowns facing each other with one hand each on a magic mirror.

Cursed Crowns (Twin Crowns #2)
Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber
Balzer + Bray
Published May 9, 2023

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About Cursed Crowns

Bestselling authors and real-life sisters-in-law Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber join forces on a compelling YA fantasy bursting with high-stakes adventure, romance and humour. Two queens, one throne. What can possibly go wrong . . .?

Twin queens Wren and Rose have claimed their crowns . . . but not everyone is happy about witches sitting on Eana’s throne.

Cool-headed Rose sets off on a Royal Tour to win over the doubters, but soon finds herself drawn to the Sunless Kingdom. Here secrets are revealed about those closest to her, and Rose finds her loyalties divided.

Meanwhile rebellious Wren steals away to the icy north to rescue their beloved grandmother, Banba. But when she accepts King Alarik’s deadly magical bargain in exchange for Banba’s freedom, the spell has unexpected – and far-reaching – consequences . . .

As an ancient curse begins to arise from the darkness, the sisters must come together and unite the crown. Their lives – and the future of Eana – depend on it.

Break the ice to free the curse,
Kill one twin to save another . . .

My Review

I started this series because Catherine Doyle wrote one of my favorite middle grade series. In addition, it’s about two sisters– one of my favorite kinds of stories.

I like the pacing of CURSED CROWNS. Things happen quickly, and that kept me feeling like I wanted to keep reading to see what happened next, even long past time for me to go to bed. I also like the two sisters and their different personalities. Rose is so proper, but she uses that knowledge to wield respect and power, which is really cool. Wren has no patience for the long game of diplomacy. She acts impulsively, guided by her gut and her heart. I love that about her.

Though it’s a longer book– 499 pages– the writing is easy to read, and the chapters are pretty short. I read it pretty fast, and had a lot of fun reading it. The story doesn’t take itself overly seriously, either. Sometimes odd, even ridiculous things happen that kind of give a break from the stakes and intensity of the situation the queens find themselves in.

The first book, TWIN CROWNS introduces a romance for each sister. I felt like there was more emphasis on the romance in that book than I expected there to be. It left me wondering if the balance between the romance and the other plot elements was off.

I think CURSED CROWNS has a great balance between these two components, and it even introduces some complications to the romance that I’m really interested in following into the next book in the series.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Main characters are white. Shen and some other minor characters are described as having dark eyes and golden-brown skin and coming from a desert kingdom.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Some vague references to wanting more than kissing.

Spiritual Content
Some characters are witches and have the ability to perform magic. One character learns of a forbidden magic that is performed using blood, but it comes at a high cost.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle scenes. A faction of people with deep anti-witch sentiment threaten Rose and her party. A group of animals try to attack Wren.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol. One character repeatedly pines for whiskey.

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

Review: Castelon by Alyssa Roat

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Castelon (Wraithwood #3)
Alyssa Roat
Mountain Brook Ink
Published March 15, 2023

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About Castelon

Fifteen hundred years of Arthurian legend come to a head in the final installment of The Wraithwood Trilogy.

The sword of legend, ancient magic, and a dead man’s secrets—together they could save Brinnie’s world or end it forever.

Brinnie barely escaped Mordizan with her life. Battered and broken in body and soul, she knows she’s running out of time. And though she has discovered the identity of Mordred’s bane, no one knows where to find the legendary weapon.

To discover the truth, she and Marcus must journey to Castelon and seek the aid of the Council. However, their actions at Mordizan brand them as enemies and war criminals. Between Mordred’s armies engaged in full-scale war and the political machinations of the Council, Brinnie struggles to balance the battlefield and the courtroom while estates fall before Mordred’s wrath.

As magic ravages her own body, threatening her survival, the allure of ancient, forbidden power grows brighter. And only one man holds the knowledge of the weapon that could destroy Mordred once and for all—a man they buried in the gardens of Wraithwood.

My Review

CASTELON is the last book in a series I’ve closely followed. I love the way the author reimagined or was inspired by Arthurian legend. I also loved Brinnie and some of the other characters, too.

In CASTELON, we get to know Brinnie’s mom a bit more, and see the return of a character we thought was lost. We also say tough goodbyes to a few beloved characters. I liked the way the relationships between each character unfolded and especially the ones that I didn’t expect. In the second book in the series, MORDIZAN, Brinnie befriends a girl named Lana. I really liked the friendship between them, so I was excited to see her in this book, too.

The first two books in the series have built up to a battle against Mordred and his forces, which are bent on ruling the wizard world and destroying the human one. Brinnie and her allies struggle to find the weapon a prophecy calls Mordred’s Bane, believing only it holds the power to kill their enemy. The search takes them behind enemy lines, and gives Brinnie lots of opportunities to make brave but reckless moves.

Her bond with Marcus grows stronger chapter by chapter. Though he disagrees with her choices sometimes, he always respects her as her own person. They are partners in war and love. I adored him.

The conclusion of the book was both really exciting and also different than I expected, in a good way. I loved the wedding scene and all that represented, and the sort of open-ended way that the last pages concluded.

All in all, I thought this was a fantasy series both fierce and sweet. I think it’s perfect for readers just dipping their feet into young adult fantasy, especially those who enjoy reimagined fairy tales or Arthurian legends.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some characters reference their Christian faith. Brinnie draws battle inspiration from Bible stories like the story of Gideon.

Some characters have the ability to perform magic.

Violent Content
Battle scenes and some references to torture.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Master of Iron by Tricia Levenseller

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

Master of Iron (Bladesmith #2)
Tricia Levenseller
Feiwel & Friends
Published Jul 26, 2022

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About Master of Iron

In MASTER OF IRON, the conclusion to Tricia Levenseller’s exciting Bladesmith YA fantasy duology, a magically gifted blacksmith with social anxiety must race against the clock to save her beloved sister and stop a devastating war.

Eighteen-year-old Ziva may have defeated a deadly warlord, but the price was almost too much. Ziva is forced into a breakneck race to a nearby city with the handsome mercenary, Kellyn, and the young scholar, Petrik, to find a powerful magical healer who can save her sister’s life.

When the events that follow lead to Ziva and Kellyn’s capture by an ambitious prince, Ziva is forced into the very situation she’s been dreading: magicking dangerous weapons meant for world domination.

The forge has always been Ziva’s safe space, a place to avoid society and the anxiety it causes her, but now it is her prison, and she’s not sure just how much of herself she’ll have to sacrifice to save Kellyn and take center stage in the very war she’s been trying to stop.

My Review

I loved BLADE OF SECRETS, and specifically the way Ziva’s anxiety is described. She pulls you into her headspace, laying out her fears and worries in a frank thought train. I felt like that made her anxiety really present. It felt overwhelming to read sometimes, which made it that much more real to me.

MASTER OF IRON has the same quality to it, where Ziva draws us into her rigid thoughts and lets us feel caged in by them. That component of the story was done really well, as was the way she and Kellyn relate to one another. I liked that they had some frank conversations about their feelings and that he asked for her to verbalize her needs rather than assuming he knew what it is that would help her.

The story picks up immediately where BLADE OF SECRETS leaves off, with Temra injured and unconscious in the wagon and Ziva, Kellyn, and Petrik desperately rushing to a healer in an attempt to save her. From the very opening, there’s hardly a moment to draw breath. Crises leap out at every turn. Ziva rushes from one problem to the next, the stakes growing higher and her resolve against making weapons of war growing stronger.

I loved the way she explored the limits of her gift and how it could be used in less violent ways. I didn’t expect that to be a significant part of the story, but I’m really glad it was.

On the whole, I’m glad I read this second book in the duology. If you liked the first book, definitely read MASTER OF IRON.

Content Notes

Battle violence and some scenes showing torture.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Ziva has anxiety.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex. Ziva and Kellyn discuss having sex, but he wants to wait until he gets married.

Spiritual Content
Brief references to deities celebrated in Ziva’s world.

Violent Content
Battle violence. Descriptions of torture.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: A Thousand Heartbeats by Kiera Cass

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

A Thousand Heartbeats
Kiera Cass
HarperTeen
Published November 29, 2022

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About A Thousand Heartbeats

“Love has a sound. It sounds like a thousand heartbeats happening at the same time.”

Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn’t her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon be forced into a loveless marriage for political gain.

Miles away, small comforts are few and far between for Lennox. He has devoted his life to the Dahrainian army, hoping to one day help them reclaim the throne that was stolen from them. For Lennox, the idea of love is merely a distraction—nothing will stand in the way of fighting for his people.

But when love, against all odds, finds them both, they are bound by its call. They can’t possibly be together—but the irresistible thrum of a thousand heartbeats won’t let them stay apart.

Kiera Cass brings her signature sparkling romance to this beautiful story of star-crossed lovers and long-held secrets.

Geeking Out

It took me by surprise when the publisher offered me a review copy of this book– I was pretty over the moon, honestly.

It’s been a while since I read anything by Kiera Cass, but I’ve recommended her books to some teen readers. I remember good things about The Selection series, though I’ve only read the first three books in the series.

This book struck me as kind of having America/Aspen vibes– it’s a completely different story, nothing like The Selection series, but I guess the princess and soldier romance maybe triggered that thought?

Anyway. This is a LONG book at a little over 550 pages, which I found really intimidating at first. I tend to avoid long books because I try to read so many titles. I probably still would have agreed to review it even if I’d known it was so long. It’s Kiera Cass, y’all. How can I say no?

My Review

Okay, so the book. I liked Annika and found some things about her character really compelling. She’s all about justice and fairness. But there’s definitely kind of a weird self-sacrificial thing about her that kind of… made me sad? I don’t know. Like, I feel like she tended to divide things into two possible outcomes: either she could be happy and everyone else miserable, or everyone else could be happy while she was miserable.

There were definitely some conflicts that split themselves that way where those were legit her only options. But it felt like she tended to view all conflicts that way.

Lennox… That guy took me on a journey. At certain moments, I did not think I could like him. He serves his leader as a kind of enforcer, doing the dirty tasks that no one else wants, but have been decreed to be done. It takes him a long time to realize his own worth and even longer to really decide what to do about it.

I will say that early in the story, we learn that Lennox has done something Annika finds unforgivable. (And I agreed with her.) I wasn’t sure how the story was going to lead us around that fact and build a believable romance. In my opinion, Kiera Cass did a pretty good job at that, though.

Romance aside, I did struggle with some of the other story elements. For example, at one point, a hurricane descends on two battling forces. It’s described as basically a wall of rain approaching with winds so strong they rip trees from the ground. I was like, okay, is this a hurricane or a tornado? Because the thing about a hurricane is that it’s approach weather-wise is more gradual. Winds picking up. Periodic raining. Gaps in between where things slow a little bit. Then, like birth labor, the gaps get shorter and the wind and rain get stronger until the storm reaches its maximum.

Anyway, that’s my experience from the hurricanes I’ve weathered as a native Floridian. So the abrupt arrival of the hurricane kind of took me out of the story a bit. There’s also an earthquake in the middle of the hurricane, which was odd? But okay. The bigger thing was that both armies had arrived at the battle site via ships, and it appeared that the ships were okay after the hurricane forces so strong that trees were ripped from the ground.

In the grand scheme of the plot, those were minor details. But there were things kind of like that at different points throughout the book. Just little things that didn’t make sense.

The romance is absolutely the selling point of the story, so I think readers who pick up this book for a sweet, star-crossed love story will get exactly what they came for. I think fans of Kiera Cass’s earlier novels will enjoy getting carried away in another princess romance.

Content Notes

Content warning for references to torture and physical/emotional abuse.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. A boy and girl spend the night together a couple of times. It’s hinted that they just sleep next to one another.

In one scene, a girl strips down to her underwear so she can escape from a prison cell.

Spiritual Content
Annika speaks to a portrait of her mother, keeping a connection to her mother who has been missing for years. Lennox speaks to someone in an unmarked grave.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle scenes. References to torture. References to physical and emotional abuse.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Finding Refuge by Victorya Krouse

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

Finding Refuge: Real-Life Immigration Stories from Young People
Victorya Krouse
Zest Books
Published September 7, 2021

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About Finding Refuge

What is a refugee? This anthology recounts the personal immigration experiences of teenage refugees from around the world, including where they came from, why they left, how they arrived in the United States, and what happened next. These writers know firsthand it means to leave a beloved but unsafe homeland for a distant place where everyone speaks another language.

English teacher Victorya Rouse has assembled a collection of real-world stories essential for our times, complete with maps, context, and background on the refugees’ home countries. As immigration has catapulted into the current discourse, this poignant collection emphasizes the USA’s rich tradition of welcoming people from all over the world.

My Review

I started reading this book the week that Russia invaded Ukraine. Listening as the number of refugees escaping the country continues to grow, watching reports of people trapped in their homes with little to no food or water due to constant warfare happening around them, has truly been heartbreaking.

This book is filled with stories, some very much like what we’ve seen and heard in the first days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These are stories of families who loved their cities and homes, forced to flee due to conflict or other life-threatening situations. Every story is moving.

I liked that the book is organized by continent or area of the world. The individual stories are preceded by a short list of facts about the country where the person is from and a little bit of historical information about that area and why people have left. I felt like that kind of helped me build a little more understanding of what was happening. It also gives a little bit of a sense of how the individual stories fit into the larger global history.

For some reason, I assumed all the stories would be from refugees who’ve entered the United States within the last ten years or so, but that isn’t the case. Some of the stories are about people who arrived in their teens as far back as 1975. Most are from the last 20 years, but several are from the 1990s. It depends on the conflict and the part of the world that caused someone to become a refugee.

On the whole, I feel like I learned a lot reading this book. It seems to be a collection of stories from refugees in their own words. The stories sometimes read like a high school assignment meant to answer a series of questions. I think I expected something more like brief memoirs written from interviews between the author and the refugees.

Reading FINDING REFUGE made me want to read WE ARE DISPLACED by Malala Yousafzai. I haven’t read it yet. It seems like it would be along similar lines, but written by a a refugee herself.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
FINDING REFUGE tells the stories of refugees from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and North America. All traveled to the United States to make new homes.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to getting married.

Spiritual Content
Some references to faith like Christianity or Islam.

Violent Content
References to war. A few brief mentions of a family member being killed. A couple mentions of human trafficking and drug trafficking.

Drug Content
A few mentions of drug trafficking.

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

Review: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

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The Blue Sword (Damar #1)
Robin McKinley
HarperCollins
Published April 26, 2016 (Orig. 1982)

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About The Blue Sword

Harry Crewe grew up a tomboy in forests, until her brother joined the Homelanders guarding the far desert reaches. Now an orphan, she joins him. Only a few months later, asking for military aid against advancing Northeners, comes Corlath, the Hillfolk King. After exchanging a single glance, his inner magic compels him to kidnap her, without knowing why. She does not know the Hillfolk language or why she has been chosen.

Renamed Hari, she sees visions, and brings one to all, of the Golden Age legendary Dragon-Killer Queen Aerin, who smiles upon her. Hari is trained in the arts of war until she is a match for any of the elite royal guard, and carries Aerin’s famed Blue Sword. Does she have the courage to accept her true fate?

My Review

I feel like the first thing I have to address right off is the fact that there is a kidnapping which ultimately results in a romance, and though Harry has had her freedom for a long time before she falls in love, it’s still, er, perhaps a bit problematic? I like that she doesn’t fall in love as a captive. She’s won her own renown and has even broken away from Corlath and his riders before she examines her feelings. Still, just know that the story goes there, and if that’s going to be an issue that makes it impossible to enjoy the book, then you probably want to pass on this one.

The first time I read THE BLUE SWORD, I was probably twelve? So it’s hard for me to step back from my love for the story and see it the way that I might evaluate it now if I’d read it for the first time. I have read this book probably half a dozen times at least? I love that Harry becomes a warrior and sort of crafts her own role in her new life. The cat, Narknon is my favorite! I love that Harry becomes something of a bridge between the people she grew up with and the people she belongs to now.

I’m also really fascinated by the idea that this book was written before THE HERO AND THE CROWN, which is kind of a prequel (??) which follows the story of Aerin, the legendary dragon-slayer woman who appears to Harry in this story.

Some of the characters in the book have colonized some of the land of Damar. While they think of themselves Homelanders, as good people creating a life in a hostile desert environment, the Hillfolk think of them as Outlanders and invaders. I liked that the story showed a more balanced view of those things.

Conclusion

All in all, this is still one of my favorite stories. It’s probably the first book by Robin McKinley that I ever read. I can’t believe it was written almost forty years ago. Wowza! I think readers who enjoy fantasy with a strong female hero or enemies to lovers stories should check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Corlath is the Hill King (King of Damar), described as dark-haired, brown-skinned desert people.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used briefly.

Romance/Sexual Content
A kiss between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Harry sees visions and learns that she has the strange kelar magic that Corlath also possesses.

Violent Content
Corlath kidnaps Harry from her home. Some situations of peril and description of battle. No gory details.

Drug Content
None.

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