ARC Review: Gallant by Victoria Schwab

Title: Gallant
Author: Victoria Schwab
Publication Date: March 1, 2022
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 384
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Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.

Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.

Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?

Victoria Schwab is an author I have always had a bit of a weird relationship with. Everyone seems to love her, but I've never been able to connect with her books. I thought A Darker Shade of Magic was fine and I gave up on The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I WANT to love her, I just don't think I'd found the right book. Until Gallant. A friend lent me her ARC a few months back after I'd read the synopsis and been sure this was THE book that would make me a Schwab fan and I was absolutely right. 

This story follows Olivia Prior, an orphan who unexpectedly finds herself invited to Gallant, her family home, a house full of secrets and mysteries. I don't think that this book will be for everyone. It's definitely more about the *vibes* than the plot, although I absolutely fell in love with Olivia. I've seen another reviewer compare this to Crimson Peak and Coraline, and I think that description perfectly encapsulates the way Gallant feels. 

What I most loved about this story was the feeling of being pulled fully into the world of Gallant. Even months after reading it I can still imagine the world (to the best of my aphant abilities) and want to go back and experience its creepy charm again. Of course, the plot that pulled Olivia along as she unraveled the multi-generational mystery was intriguing and I was dying to find out all of the house's secrets. What kept me entranced, though, was the feeling the story gave me. And I guess that's the magic of V.E. Schwab that I've been hearing about for all these years. 

I'll absolutely be buying as many special editions of this haunting book as I can afford and recommending it to everyone. I'll also be giving Schwab's backlist another look because I desperately want more stories this beautiful. 

ARC Review: Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshmen by Kristen R. Lee

Title: Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshmen
Author: Kristen R. Lee
Publication Date: February 1, 2022
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 336
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//I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review//

A striking debut novel about racism on elite college campuses. Fans of Dear White People will embrace this activist-centered contemporary novel about a college freshman grappling with the challenges of attending an elite university with a disturbing racist history--that may not be as distant as it seems.

Savannah Howard sacrificed her high school social life to make sure she got into a top college. Her sites were set on an HBCU, but when she is accepted to the ivy-covered walls of Wooddale University on a full ride, how can she say no?

Wooddale is far from the perfectly manicured community it sells on its brochures, though. Savannah has barely unpacked before she comes face-to-face with microagressions stemming from racism and elitism. Then, Clive Wilmington's statue is vandalized with blackface. The prime suspect? Lucas Cunningham, Wooddale's most popular student and son to a local prominent family. Soon, Savannah is unearthing the hidden secrets of Wooddale's racist history. But what's the price for standing up for what is right? And will telling the truth about Wooddale's past cost Savannah her own future?

A stunning, challenging, and timely debut about racism and privilege on college campuses.

I recently read Required Reading for the Disenfranchised Freshman by Kristin Lee. This book was PHENOMENAL. I can’t believe it’s Lee’s debut novel! I’m not even sure I can put all of my thoughts and feelings into words, but I’ll try.

Savannah Howard sacrificed the fun high school experience her peers took advantage of to study. Her mom pushed her to make sure she’d get out of their neighborhood, go to an Ivy League Institution, and make a better life for both herself and her mom. Savannah wanted to go to a HBCU in lieu of Wooddale University, where she received a full scholastic scholarship, but it was her mom’s dream for her to go to Wooddale and she didn’t want to disappoint her. On campus, Savannah was one of the only black people around. There were less than 100 black students. When she witnessed racism in the form of a disgusting caricature spray painted on the statue of Clive Washington, she quickly finds herself where she never thought she’d be: an activist fighting for what’s right.

People think that just because black people use AAVE, or Ebonics as ignorant, backwards, and racist people prefer, we’re unintelligent. Savannah is a straight A student who got a scholarship to a prestigious college. Told in first person, we experience Savannah’s code switch. In her head, she speaks the way she speaks around her black friends and family but when speaking to the white and entitled students she goes to school with and that she encounters in real life, she speaks in the only grammar they can comprehend - “proper” American English.

This book was so real that I honestly forgot I was even reading a book. It felt like I personally was experiencing the micro aggressions, the racism, and the hatred that Savannah and her friends received from a popular fraternity, and soon the whole school.

This was an emotional book and that’s putting it lightly. It is very exhausting to be black and to constantly deal with the ingrained racism that people display towards us. The worst ones are those who don’t even know they’re being racist and hateful. It’s so ingrained in them that it’s normal.

Lee also makes a statement about white performative activists that I think was extremely important. They’re okay cheering us on from the sidelines hiding behind they’re friends, and they’re okay supporting us in private, but that’s it. Going the distance.

“White folks don't ever get that we are the ones at risk. We got the most to lose.”

I’ve already pre-ordered this book and I’m so excited for a physical copy. This book was absolutely everything I didn’t know I needed and it’s a REALLY important book for teenagers, especially black teenagers, to read. I have a feeling that this book will be considered a classic in the future.

Book Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Carry On (Simon Snow #1)
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publication Date: October 6, 2015
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 528
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Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen.

That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here--it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters.

When I reviewed Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, I said that my least favorite bits of the book were the parts about Simon Snow and that I'd probably never read another of her books. I guess all I needed was three years of separation, because I am absolutely in love with Simon and Baz! I picked up this series during the B&N 50% off sale after Christmas and I'm so glad I did!

After several months of reading only fanfiction, I guess it's only fitting that I jumped back into "real" books with a book about characters that existed in fictional fanfiction. Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who can barely use his magic without blowing everyone up. He and his archenemy (roommate) Baz have a complicated relationship that leaves Simon non-functional when Baz fails to show up at the beginning of term. He's sure that Baz is a vampire, even though vampire magicians don't exist. And I absolutely adored their relationship in every single form. I loved all of the secondary characters as well, perhaps with the exception of Agatha, who I could have done without.

I was a bit worried that this book would be as plotless as Fangirl, but I was so wrong! Simon's purpose is to defeat the Humdrum, a magical baddie who is sucking up all the magic. This book had mystery and adventure and I was enthralled. It wasn't fast paced, but I found myself glued to every page. When characters teamed up to plot and defeat the Big Bad, I couldn't wait to see how they'd succeed. 

I know people didn't love the second book as much as this one, but I will be starting it immediately because I can't get enough of these characters! I can't wait to see how they continue to grow and what they get into next. If you've been avoiding this book and you're here for lighthearted fantasy that pokes a bit of fun at normal fantasy tropes, you definitely need to give Carry On a try! 

ARC Review: At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp

Title: At the End of Everything
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Publication Date: January 4, 2022
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 400
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//I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review//

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends comes another heartbreaking, emotional and timely page-turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The Hope Juvenile Treatment Center is ironically named. No one has hope for the delinquent teenagers who have been exiled there; the world barely acknowledges that they exist.

Then the guards at Hope start acting strange. And one day...they don't show up. But when the teens band together to make a break from the facility, they encounter soldiers outside the gates. There's a rapidly spreading infectious disease outside, and no one can leave their houses or travel without a permit. Which means that they're stuck at Hope. And this time, no one is watching out for them at all.

As supplies quickly dwindle and a deadly plague tears through their ranks, the group has to decide whom among them they can trust and figure out how they can survive in a world that has never wanted them in the first place.

I’ve just finished reading an ARC of At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp and I absolutely LOVED it. This was a great 5/5 star read for me.

One day, the juveniles at the Hope Juvenile Treatment Center, where delinquent teenagers are sent for various reasons, are abandoned and forgotten by those who were supposed to take care of them. A few curious teens break out to get freedom from the center. They are surprised to run into armed soldiers who tell them that an infectious disease, a plague, has broken out and everyone is confined to their houses and they are not allowed to travel without a permit. Stranded at Hope, the teens who decide to remain there are forced to find a way to survive. With their dwindling food sources, limited medical supplies, and with the plague having broken out within the facility, they have to bind together to make it.

There are three main characters and three points of view throughout the book. Each of the three main characters are white. However, the book is full of people of different races and nationalities. There is also a non-binary transgender teenager who was kicked out of their religious parents’ home. Too many authors nowadays are forcing diversity they don’t want into their stories. The problem with this is they write their characters in offensive manners. Nijkamp, however, doesn’t do this. When they describe a character’s skin tone, they do so in such a way that you can tell they aren’t forcing the diversity. For example, a character named Khalil is described as “Dark-brown hair, light-brown skin, laughing brown eyes.” I also love that Nijkamp didn’t try to write about the injustice black teens experience in the justice system. They didn’t want to take away space from a writer of color.

“This is what the plague looks like. It’s not illness, at first. It’s fear. The type of fear that nags at the back of your thoughts, that crawls like a parasite under your skin. It’s like every bruise that brushes against my clothes.” The story itself was slow. Not in a bad way, but in a good one. They took the time to humanize each character, even the worst ones. They make you feel like you truly get to know the characters of this book. Not just the three narrators but the characters who surround them as well. I could write an entire book on how this book made me feel and the profound thoughts I had about life, fear, and COVID while reading it.

It was surreal to read about a plague when we have one of our own going on in real life. The plague in the book was far worse than COVID is but still, it was emotional to read about. I’d say the genre of this book would be YA Dystopian Psychological Thriller.

This book will be published on 4 January 2022 and I can’t recommend it to others enough!

Book Review: The XY by Virginia Bergin

Title: The XY
Author: Virginia Bergin
Publication Date: November 6, 2018
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 352
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Sixty years ago, a virus wiped out almost all men on Earth. Now women run the world, and men are kept in repopulation facilties, safe from the deadly virus. At least, that's what everyone has been led to believe…until River discovers a young man on a country road—injured but alive. Mason has been outside for five days since escaping from his facility, and no one can understand how he has survived. Hiding the boy violates the rules of their world, but as the women of the town band together to try to save him, River begins to suspect that the truth behind Mason's existence is darker than she could have imagined. 

Unfortunately, I was very underwhelmed by this book. I don’t give low ratings often, but this was a 2.5 star read for me.

This book is about River, a teenage girl growing up in a world completely run by women. Two generations before River, there was a virus that, for some reason, was a threat to the male population but not to the female population. For some reason, the virus killed males but it laid dormant in females. Since males are needed to continue the population, all boys and men were sent to secure and sterilized facilities, called sanctuaries, where they could live free of the virus. When a male is born, he is immediately taken from his mother and taken to the nearest sanctuary. She doesn’t even get to hold him. Most of those who remember the “once-was”, as River calls it, are hoping for the day when males can reenter society. Those who came after the once-was, like River and her mother, grew up being taught that men were nothing but bad. This book and their lessons were full of blatant misandry which could have been forgiven had there been redeeming qualities towards the conclusion of the story. In my opinion, there weren’t.

MAN
MEN
KNIVES
RAPE
MURDER
GUNS
WAR
KILL
DEATH

This is a quote from the book, one that is repeated throughout at least the first half of it. Males were taught to fear females and vice versa. The boys in sanctuaries were brought up believing that all women were she-wolves and she-devils who only wanted to rape and kill them. Considering they were brought up in enclosed areas where their usefulness to society was fully dependent on the sperm they produced, I cannot blame them for feeling that way. However, the girls in the outside world were also brought up to believe that men were evil.

When River runs into a sick XY in the woods, she loads him up in a cart and takes him home because according to the rules of their society, you must help everyone. Her grandmother, Kate, is the only one in the house equipped to deal with an XY because she was from the once-was. She was the only one throughout this book that consistently treated mason like a human being.

Males were completely dehumanized for most of this book. For about the first 60% to 75% of the book, both River and her mother must keep being reminded by Kate that Mason, the XY, is a HE, not an IT. Even though River had many conversations with Mason, she was still struggling to see him as the human being he was. While reading this book, it felt as if feminism was being defined by misandry and that is not what feminism is or should be. When misogynists argue against feminism, this is a book they could use to make their case.

Also, it’s mentioned in the book that some women became lesbians because there were no men around instead of because they were naturally attracted to women which was also just extremely offensive.

River’s world is also defined as having no war or violence as if women are always sunshine and daisies and as if we can’t commit atrocious acts of violence as well.

I had SUCH high hopes for this book and the potential it had. I thought it would be similar to The Gender Game by Bella Forrest where females ran their own country and males ran their own except neither sex would be allowed in the others’ country. I had so many questions going into this book. How did men and women survive without each other? Would it be easier to be bisexual or gay in a world where you’re surrounded by your own sex? In a world where There are no females around males and vice versa, how would transgender and nonbinary people feel; would they find it hard to fit in?

It isn’t until the very last sentence of the book when River fully realizes that Mason isn’t an “it” and that he isn’t just a boy, but that he’s a person. I don’t say this often but I actually regret purchasing this book and supporting such misandry and discriminative drivel. I’m the first to laugh at a good “men ain’t shit” joke, but I also know that there are some REALLY good men in the world; too good for this book to have been published. I have another Bergin book on my shelf, H2O, and I’m not sure now if I’ll be able to bring myself to read it. 

Audiobook Review: The Hollow Heart by Marie Rutkoski

Title: The Hollow Heart (Forgotten Gods #2)
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Publication Date: September 9, 2021
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Pages: 304
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Review for book 1

Intrigue, romance, and magic abound in the heart-stopping conclusion to Marie Rutkoski’s Forgotten Gods duology.

At the end of The Midnight Lie, Nirrim offered up her heart to the God of Thieves in order to restore her people’s memories of their city’s history. The Half Kith who once lived imprisoned behind the city’s wall now realize that many among them are powerful. Meanwhile, the person Nirrim once loved most, Sid, has returned to her home country of Herran, where she must navigate the politics of being a rogue princess who has finally agreed to do her duty.

In the Herrani court, rumors begin to grow of a new threat rising across the sea, of magic unleashed on the world, and of a cruel, black-haired queen who can push false memories into your mind, so that you believe your dearest friends to be your enemies.

Sid doesn’t know that this queen is Nirrim, who seeks her revenge against a world that has wronged her. Can Sid save Nirrim from herself? Does Nirrim even want to be saved? As blood is shed and war begins, Sid and Nirrim find that it might not matter what they want…for the gods have their own plans.

Marie Rutkoski has been one of my favorite authors since my early blogging days. I've devoured every one of her books and each of them has made my favorites shelf, so I knew that The Hollow Heart would be no different! I could not wait to jump back into this world and see how Nirrim and Sid's story ended. I have to say, the audio did not disappoint (how could it with Justine Eyre narrating?), although the story wasn't quite what I was expecting. 

The Hollow Heart picks up with Sid arriving back in Herran and Nirrim leading a revolution in her own country. It seemed to divide readers, but I am firmly on the side of loving that Kestrel and Arin are in this story! I will admit that I didn't love Kestrel as a mother, but I am so glad I got to see more of how their story continued after The Winner's Kiss ended. As much as I enjoyed the fan service of seeing Sid's parents, I do wish that the two main characters of this series weren't separated for 90% of the book. 

A lot of Sid's storyline revolved around misunderstandings and miscommunication, which I usually can't stand, but I really related to her and didn't mind it quite as much as I usually would. In The Midnight Lie it was obvious that Sid was very confident in herself, but I really liked seeing her more vulnerable side after her heartbreak. On the other hand, Nirrim was extremely difficult to connect to or root for. In fact, her character bordered on irredeemable for me, which really is a shame because I loved her in book one. 

Marie Rutkoski expanded on the world and mythology in The Hollow Heart, even including one of the forgotten gods as a POV character. It was interesting to see the magic and deities that Arin believed in confirmed as reality (although I honestly can't remember how big a part this played in the original trilogy). It makes me wish that The Winner's Trilogy had been a bit magical too! 

My main complaint is that this series should have been longer. The Hollow Heart truly felt like a second book in a series and I wish that there was going to be a book three. I know that this was always planned as a duology, but the ending is so abrupt and comes after such a brief reunion between the lead characters, that it doesn't feel completed. I desperately wanted more time with Nirrim and Sid together and to see how they worked through all that happened while they were apart.

This book wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but I still enjoyed the time I spent in this world. I'm not sure if Rutkoski has plans to write more in this world, but I would definitely love to see more of these characters in the future! 

ARC Review: Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

Title: Once Upon a Broken Heart (OUABH #1)
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publication Date: September 28, 2021
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pages: 416
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Evangeline Fox was raised in her beloved father’s curiosity shop, where she grew up on legends about immortals, like the tragic Prince of Hearts. She knows his powers are mythic, his kiss is worth dying for, and that bargains with him rarely end well.

But when Evangeline learns that the love of her life is about to marry another, she becomes desperate enough to offer the Prince of Hearts whatever he wants in exchange for his help to stop the wedding. The prince only asks for three kisses. But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’s pledged. And he has plans for Evangeline that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy…

It's no mystery around my blog that Caraval is one of my all-time favorite series! Despite not loving book three, it's a trilogy I don't hesitate to recommend and I've read the first two books multiple times. Of course, I was ecstatic when I found out Stephanie Garber would be writing Jacks's story next and couldn't wait to start reading once I got my hands on an ARC! 

Once Upon a Broken Heart feels like a direct sequel to Finale, which I didn't quite realize. The author has said that it could be read independently, but it definitely spoils the ending of the Caraval series and features characters from it as well. I also don't know that it's entirely fair to call this Jack's story. When I first heard about it (and until recently) I mistakenly thought it would be from his point of view. Instead, this book is told entirely from Evangeline's POV and, while Jacks does feature heavily, he is not the main character. 

Luckily, I really enjoyed Evangeline as a protagonist, although not quite as much as Scarlett and Tella. I felt for her struggle over trusting her stepsister and wanting to be loved deeply by someone. There are multiple love interest options for Evangeline in this story and, surprisingly, Jacks really isn't one of them. I did love their interactions and watching their friendship (or is it?) develop over the course of the book. Jacks is still one of the most intriguing characters in YA and I especially enjoyed reading more about his role as a Fate. It's never quite clear how much Jacks can be trusted or what his goals are. 

As for the plot and world building, it did all feel very similar to Finale (which felt very different than Caraval to me). Stephanie Garber's writing is just as whimsical and fantastic as it has always been and I flew through the pages to see what would happen next! I loved exploring the North and its fairy tale lore and was glad to see more of this world explored. Like in her previous series, everything was shrouded in mystery. What did feel different was that each plot point felt a bit spoon fed and I wish there had been a bit less hand holding. There's also a lot of flip flopping on who and what can be trusted, which was a little frustrating at times. 

Although this wasn't a perfect read for me, I absolutely cannot wait for the next book in this series! I'm hopeful that now that all the mysteries have been set in motion, things will start to make sense and fall into place. I'm also really hoping to get some POV chapters from Jacks! I am dying to know more about his thoughts and motivations. If you enjoyed Caraval like I did, you're not going to want to miss this story! 

ARC Review: Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Kingdom of the Cursed (Kingdom of the Wicked #2)
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publication Date: October 5, 2021
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Pages: 448
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Review for book 1

One sister.

Two sinful princes.

Infinite deception with a side of revenge…Welcome to Hell.

After selling her soul to become Queen of the Wicked, Emilia travels to the Seven Circles with the enigmatic Prince of Wrath, where she’s introduced to a seductive world of vice.

She vows to do whatever it takes to avenge her beloved sister, Vittoria...even if that means accepting the hand of the Prince of Pride, the king of demons.

The first rule in the court of the Wicked? Trust no one. With back-stabbing princes, luxurious palaces, mysterious party invitations, and conflicting clues about who really killed her twin, Emilia finds herself more alone than ever before. Can she even trust Wrath, her one-time ally in the mortal world...or is he keeping dangerous secrets about his true nature?

Emilia will be tested in every way as she seeks a series of magical objects that will unlock the clues of her past and the answers she craves...

Hold onto your butts! Unpopular opinion incoming. Kingdom of the Wicked was one of my absolute favorite reads of 2020. I was obsessed and had to acquire every edition I could find. Needless to say, I was SO excited to get access to an ARC of Kingdom of the Cursed and jumped in as soon as my brain would allow (mood reading sucks). Based on other reviews I expected a lot of spice and, coming off of a spicy book binge, I was definitely here for it. 

Kingdom of the Cursed picks up immediately after book one with Emilia traveling to the Seven Circles with Wrath. Upon arriving at his palace she begins to search for clues about her sister's murder while resisting the sinful influence of the realm. Honestly, the plot of this book is a bit all over the place and a little confusing at times.  

Kingdom of the Wicked set up a mystery that I was eager to figure out. There are multiple new mysteries on top of the ones that are ongoing from that book and, where book one had a clear focus and goal, this one tried to do too much at once. Emilia seemed to jump around constantly to new theories, mysteries, and plans and I struggled to understand what she was even trying to do. There were some interesting reveals in the last 10%, but I wish there had been more clear plot earlier on. 

Truly though, I'm just here for the romance between Wrath and Emilia. This book has been marketed as New Adult (or at least the word of mouth has implied that it is) and the spice was really not what I expected. While there are certainly spicy scenes, Kerri's way of writing sexuality has always been off to me and it's no different here. Emilia constantly talks about how empowered and sexual she is, but there is always a sense of shame surrounding sex in this world. This was also an aspect of Kerri's previous series that made me uncomfortable.

Mild spoilers to further my thoughts about the weird handling of sexuality:

Two things in particular really make me question what Kerri's feelings towards sex before marriage are: First, the actual act of sex between Wrath and Emilia has massive, life changing consequences. Second, when Emilia actually sees other people having sex, it's at a party thrown by one of the princes and is written as one of many sinful indulgences put on display by Gluttony.

The world itself is fascinating. We only visit three of the Seven Circles, but each one is unique and well written. The brothers Emilia meets are a bit one dimensional and perfectly fit their sins, but I did really enjoy Pride and Envy. All that said, I wish that Kerri spent significantly less time on her descriptions. I frequently found myself skimming multi-page long descriptions of rooms, clothes, gardens, etc. I understand world building, but her overly descriptive style is not for me. 

I definitely plan to continue with book three because the end of this one does feel like it's leading to something better. In the meantime, I think this series will be moving off my favorites shelf. 

ARC Review: Small Favors by Erin A. Craig

Title: Small Favors
Author: Erin A. Craig
Publication Date: July 27, 2021
Publisher: Delacorte
Pages: 480
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Ellerie Downing lives in the quiet town of Amity Falls in the Blackspire Mountain range--five narrow peaks stretching into the sky like a grasping hand, bordered by a nearly impenetrable forest from which the early townsfolk fought off the devils in the woods. To this day, visitors are few and rare. But when a supply party goes missing, some worry that the monsters that once stalked the region have returned.

As fall turns to winter, more strange activities plague the town. They point to a tribe of devilish and mystical creatures who promise to fulfill the residents' deepest desires, however grand and impossible, for just a small favor. But their true intentions are much more sinister, and Ellerie finds herself in a race against time before all of Amity Falls, her family, and the boy she loves go up in flames.

House of Salt and Sorrows remains one of my favorite retellings after it swept me away with its spooky atmosphere and amazing characters last year. As soon as I saw that Erin A. Craig was releasing a new book I preordered, no questions asked! I was even more excited to get approved for an ARC and jumped into it immediately!

Ellerie Downing lives in Amity Falls with her family and helps her dads tend their bees. Her mother is in an unfortunate accident and her parents leave the village early on to get her help and are never seen again. The dynamic between Ellerie and her siblings was probably my favorite part of this book, much like the relationships in House of Salt and Sorrows. I enjoyed watching them support each other and work together to get by once their parents had left. 

Of course, there's also romance and the love interest is a trapper named Whitaker who happens to pass by their house. While Whitaker was a fascinating character, the romance was a little strange to me. He was only in a handful of scenes and the romance felt forced even though it was spread out over a series of months. I honestly feel that this could have worked just as well if not better without the romantic relationship between the two. 

Small Favors was originally marketed as The Village meets Needful Things so I was had really high expectations for the horror going in. In reality, the only similarity between this and The Village is that they live in an actual village. This book was an extremely slow burn that unfortunately lost me halfway through.

While Small Favors starts out feeling a bit creepy, there wasn't much to it beyond a family going about life in a small village and squabbles amongst neighbors as they run low on supplies for the winter. There were some tense moments and feelings of dread throughout the book, but I honestly don't know that I would classify this as horror. The explanation given at the end was interesting and I thought there was a good idea there, but I expected more of the execution. 

I completely forgot until after I finished this that it was supposed to be a Rumpelstiltskin retelling and I just don't see it. The fairytale retelling is extremely vague and I certainly hope people aren't going into this book hoping for that! I will still give Erin A. Craig's next book a try because House was incredible, but perhaps with lower expectations. If you like survival stories that are light on horror, you will probably enjoy this one more than I did! 

Mini Book Review: The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White

Title: The Camelot Betrayal (Camelot Rising #2)
Author: Kiersten White
Publication Date: November 10, 2020
Publisher: Delacorte
Pages: 400
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Review for book 1

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?

The Guinevere Deception was one of my favorite books of 2019 and I couldn't wait to dive into The Camelot Betrayal!

This installment was so much fun and I loved seeing the relationship between Guinevere and Lancelot develop more. I know that a lot of people are hoping for a Guinevere and Lancelot romance, but I love their friendship at the moment. My mind could certainly still be changed, but I'm firmly team Mordred at the moment.

I really enjoyed that there was a quest in this book, which expanded the world and showed us more of Guinevere away from Arthur. I also appreciated getting more of Guinevere's backstory and can't wait to find out even more about who she really is and what her purpose is.

Although I loved this book, I did find myself enjoying it a bit less than the first one. It was a quicker read, but I loved the mystery of The Guinevere Deception a bit more. I was hoping for a bit more development with the main story, but the side quest was still a lot of fun. I will definitely be preordering the third one!  

Graphic Novel Reviews: Submerged and The Black Mage

Title: Submerged
Author: Vita Ayala
Illustrator: Lisa Sterle
Publication Date: February 12, 2019
Publisher: Vault Comics
Pages: 144
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On the night of the biggest storm in New York City history, Elysia Puente gets a call from her estranged little brother Angel, terrified, begging for help. When the call cuts out suddenly, despite the bad feelings between them, Ellie rushes into the night. Finding his broken phone in front of a barricaded subway station, Ellie follows echoes of her brother into the sinister darkness of the underground, desperate to find him before it’s too late.

I stumbled across Submerged while searching for graphic novels by creators of color and was immediately pulled in by the creepy cover. I tend to ignore reviews when it comes to comics because I like mine a bit dark and weird, so I wasn't too put off by the mixed reception and was eager to read this! 

In Submerged, Ellie goes out to find her brother after getting a panicked call from him. She ends up in the subways on the night of a huge storm and finds herself on a bizarre journey where she has to face her past. It was weird. I know I said I like weird books and I truly, truly do, but this was just way out there. I had a very hard time following the story from early on.

As Ellie goes through the subway, she sees flashbacks from her childhood and teenage years. Her father was abusive, her mother was an enabler and didn't defend her children, and her brother was a selfish jerk. I really wasn't quite sure what the point was supposed to be. The art was really nice and I did like that it seemed to have ties to Greek mythology, but this just wasn't for me. 

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Title: The Black Mage
Author: Daniel Barnes
Illustrator: D.J. Kirkland
Publication Date: August 13, 2019
Publisher: Oni Press
Pages: 153
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When St. Ivory Academy, a historically white wizarding school, opens its doors to its first-ever black student, everyone believes that the wizarding community is finally taking its first crucial steps toward inclusivity. Or is it? When Tom Token, the beneficiary of the school's "Magical Minority Initiative," begins uncovering weird clues and receiving creepy texts on his phone, he and his friend, Lindsay, stumble into a conspiracy that dates all the way back to the American Civil War, and could cost Tom his very soul.

The Black Mage has been on my TBR for awhile, but I was hesitant since I didn't think I would like the art style. I finally decided to give it a try this past weekend and I'm so glad I did! 

Going into this book, I was basically expecting Black Harry Potter based on the Amazon page, but that was definitely not what this was. This story includes the ghosts of historical figures including John Henry, Harriet Tubman, and Fredrick Douglass. The main character, Tom Token, is the only Black student at the wizarding school and his familiar's name is a crow named Jim. The headmaster wears a Klan uniform and I was not prepared. 

I really don't want to say too much more about the plot, but I loved this story! The humor is amazing, the art is gorgeous, and the pacing kept me hooked. I kept seeing people say this was very similar to Harry Potter in reviews, but it really isn't at all, other than the setting being a school for wizards. I'll definitely be buying a copy for my shelf! 

Book Review: A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers #3)
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publication Date: January 26, 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Pages: 416
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Reviews for book 1 & book 2

Face your fears, fight the battle.

Emberfall is crumbling fast, torn between those who believe Rhen is the rightful prince and those who are eager to begin a new era under Grey, the true heir. Grey has agreed to wait two months before attacking Emberfall, and in that time, Rhen has turned away from everyone—even Harper, as she desperately tries to help him find a path to peace.

Fight the battle, save the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Lia Mara struggles to rule Syhl Shallow with a gentler hand than her mother. But after enjoying decades of peace once magic was driven out of their lands, some of her subjects are angry Lia Mara has an enchanted prince and magical scraver by her side. As Grey's deadline draws nearer, Lia Mara questions if she can be the queen her country needs.

As two kingdoms come closer to conflict, loyalties are tested, love is threatened, and an old enemy resurfaces who could destroy them all, in this stunning conclusion to bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreaker series.

The Cursebreakers series has had a place on my favorites shelf since I read the first one as an ARC in 2018. I have loved following along on this journey with Harper, Rhen, and Grey, and I was so excited to get book three! I raced out and picked up a copy on release day and finished it by that night, but I realized fairly quickly that I was going to have some issues with this installment.  

A Vow So Bold and Deadly picks up shortly after A Heart So Fierce and Broken ends. Harper is in Emberfall with Rhen and Grey is in Syhl Shallow with Lia Mara. War is looming though neither side truly wants it. Although I fell in love with Rhen and Harper's romance in the first book, I hated Rhen by the end of the second and found Harper's actions questionable. In this one I was extremely disappointed by them. 

I knew going in that there would have to be a redemption arc for Rhen and I was eager to see how Brigid Kemmerer would bring me around to him. What I was not prepared for were the number of excuses for his actions by every character in this book, along with a ton of victim blaming. Here are some non-spoilery quotes: 

"Do you think it cost me nothing?" ... For the first time I realize that the bulk of anger isn't at the people around me. It's not about Rhen. It's about myself. He made choices here, but so did I. His choices were about Emberfall. Mine were about Grey. We were both wrong and both write at the same time...

Friendly reminder that his choices included torturing a 15 year old child along with Grey, and hers included saving them. 

He seems relieved. I think that's the most startling thing of all: his relief. I'd somehow forgotten that he doesn't want to resort to drastic measures, that at his core, he wants the best for his people.

This sounds remarkably like an excuse made for an abusive partner.  

I once begged him for mercy. He did beg. I remember. But is that all that matters? They spent an eternity together, enduring the most terrible things I can imagine, but their relationship will boil down to one poor choice? And even as I think that, was the poor choice Rhen's, when he ordered his guards to find some whips, or was the poor choice Grey's, when he decided to run, when he chose to keep his birthright a secret?

I... WHAT? This is the worst victim blaming I've ever seen in a book. Was the poor choice GREY'S??? And then there's this one: 

"But what do you want, Grey? Do you want Rhen as your brother? Or is this just a way to take advantage again?" 

Again!" He whips his head around. "When have I taken advantage?" 

"When you first went to Syhl Shallow. When you declared war. You knew he was broken and hurting. You knew he was still dealing with everything Lilith did to him." 

"I did not take advantage." His voice is tight. "His enforcers were slaughtering his people to get to me. He tried to kill [15 year old] Tycho. His guards would have leveled Blind Hollow. He would have-" 

"He would have listened to you, Grey." I pause. "If you'd told him the truth. From the beginning." 

More victim blaming that makes me want to tear my hair out. And here's the thing: I'm not mad at how it wrapped up in the end. I'm not mad at Rhen getting redemption because I expected it. What I am furious about is Rhen's actions being excused and Grey being guilt tripped for his own torture. 

All of that aside, I still loved the romance between Grey and Lia Mara. I still loved Tycho and Iisak. There were things I genuinely enjoyed about his last book in one of my favorite series, but the way the author went about redeeming Rhen left a disgusting taste in my mouth.

I'm honestly unsure of how to rate this or even where to put it on my shelf. I'm shocked I haven't seen anyone else talk about this. I love Brigid Kemmerer and I hate that I've had this reaction to one of her books, and maybe it's just how I'm reading it? For now I'll rate it 2.5 stars because I did enjoy it by the end and I loved Grey, but these things are just too much to overlook. 

Book Review: Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Title: Hate List
Author: Jennifer Brown
Publication Date: September 1, 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 405
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Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets.

Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I don’t read about books before I buy them. If the title and/or cover looks good, or if I see it around Bookstagram, I buy it. Around Christmas 2019, I was going to bookstores a lot because I knew I’d miss going to them once I moved to Guam, and boy was I right. I picked up Hate List by Jennifer Brown during this time and I finally read it.

Hate List is about Valerie Leftman, who’s boyfriend Nick Levil committed a school shooting in their cafeteria during their junior year of high school. In trying to stop him, Valerie was shot in the leg but because of the Hate List that she and Nick created, the one that determined who he wanted to kill, she was implicated in the shooting and treated as a suspect. Even though she was eventually cleared by the police, Valerie still had to deal with the aftermath of the shooting.

Senior year is supposed to be one of the best years of your high school career, but for Valerie, it required her to face her guilt over the list, the shooting, and Nick. Nick took the coward’s way out - he killed himself so that he wouldn’t have to face the repercussions of his actions. Instead, he left that for Valerie to do.

This is the first book I’ve ever read that had the plot of a school shooting. When I started the book, I thought it would be about what happened and what led up to it. Instead, it was about Valerie and her life before and after the shooting. It’s about her relationships with her family, community, friends, and classmates. It’s about the aftermath of trauma and how different people handle it various ways. This was a very humanizing book. There were times when Val’s character made me want to rip my hair out and burn the book and I’ve seen reviews where people gave the book a negative rating because of how much they hated her. But what I think these people failed to realize is that Valerie was written as a teenager; a 17/18-year-old young woman who went through something extremely traumatic and damaging. Of course her character was going to seem whiny, immature, annoying, self-centered, etc. She is a young woman trying to put her life back together and move on while everyone around her tries to keep her down with who and what they perceive her to be.

At the end of my copy of Hate List was a novella called Say Something. It was about David, a friend of Nick’s who suspected that Nick was planning something bad, but he didn’t have the courage to say anything. And even when Valerie spent their senior year being hated and even threatened for what people thought she was part of, David still didn’t say anything. The novella also talked about bullying practices that were still going on one year later; showing that even after enduring something traumatic, some people never change.

In school, I never experienced bullying nor did I ever witness it, so I can only empathize with what Valerie, Nick, and every other “outcast” in the book went through when they were bullied. It’s emotionally jarring to read about bullying and the impacts it can have on people. I, personally, would love to see Hate List and Say Anything on required reading lists for middle schools. I think it’s a very important book that could help bullies realize that what they are doing to others is hurtful and it can have a dire effect on everyone around them.

ARC Review: Into the Heartless Wood by Joanna Ruth Meyer

Title: Into the Heartless Wood
Author: Joanna Ruth Meyer
Publication Date: January 12, 2021
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Pages: 368
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Epic, heartbreaking, and darkly atmospheric, Into the Heartless Wood is the story of impossible love between a monstrous tree siren and a boy who lives at the edge of her wood.

The forest is a dangerous place, where siren song lures men and women to their deaths. For centuries, a witch has harvested souls to feed the heartless tree, using its power to grow her domain.

When Owen Merrick is lured into the witch’s wood, one of her tree-siren daughters, Seren, saves his life instead of ending it. Every night, he climbs over the garden wall to see her, and every night her longing to become human deepens. But a shift in the stars foretells a dangerous curse, and Seren’s quest to become human will lead them into an ancient war raging between the witch and the king who is trying to stop her.

Into the Heartless Wood is the fourth book by Joanna Ruth Meyer I have read and it has cemented her place on my all time favorite authors shelf. I did not realize going into it that this story was a bit of a genderbent Beauty and the Beast, but the connection is obvious after reading the author's note and it makes it even more perfect. To be frank, I will eagerly read anything this author writes.

This book begins with Owen, a boy who lives on the edge of a dangerous wood where no one else will venture. He loves his mother's music and his father's stars. Owen's father is the king's astrologist, which necessitates their living arrangements. His mother was lost to the witch's wood years before, led to her death by one of the witch's vicious tree sirens. Owen has never risked coming to the same fate until he comes face to face with one siren who is nothing like he expects.

Everything about this book was perfect. I loved Owen and Seren. Their relationship was incredible and heartbreaking and lovely. Joanna Ruth Meyer always layers her stories with so much atmosphere and emotion, and twists and turns, of course. Her books always follow a formula that I've come to anticipate and love. They begin with a story that seemingly wraps up about halfway through the book, but it always leads to something much more grand and unexpected. I love the scale and heart each of her books has.

This book was a bit darker than the author's others, but that's exactly what I expected from a story about brutal tree sirens and a dark wood witch. There is violence and death and blood, but also love and hope. The writing is lyrical and reminiscent of a fairy tale, albeit a very dark one.

I do not believe Joanna's books are for everyone, but they are tailor made for me and I cannot wait to see what she writes next. If you're looking for an atmospheric, lyrical, dark fairy tale with forbidden friendships and magic, do not miss this book! 

Book Review: A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir

Title: A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4)
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Publication Date: December 1, 2020
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 516
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Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off...

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

At his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory--or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life--and love--he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save--or destroy--all that he knows.

Warning: This review will be long and full of unpopular opinions with (hidden) spoilers. In 2018, A Reaper at the Gates was one of my most anticipated releases after I loved the first two books in the series. I ended up being disappointed by what seemed to me to be mostly filler, so I wasn't nearly as excited about A Sky Beyond the Storm. Still, I was eager to see how the series would wrap up and hoped this book would redeem the series for me. 

A Sky Beyond the Storm picks up a few months after the ending of the previous installment and some things have changed. Namely, Laia and Helene are now BFFs, which seemed completely out of nowhere. Granted, it has been a very long wait since the last book and I could have forgotten some things, but I feel that I would have remembered this particular development after they spent the majority of the series as enemies. It isn't that I hated their relationship, it's just that it felt a bit shoehorned into the story. 

Another big change in Sky is that Keris has moved to be much more of a background villain to the wishy-washy Nightbringer. While the Commandant was a force to be reckoned with for the first three books, securing a spot as one of my top most hated villains of all time, in this book she's barely present. Instead, we have the Nightbringer, also known as Meherya (Beloved), who is now constantly back and forth between whether he loves Laia or wants to kill her depending on what's needed for the plot. Frankly, I didn't care about his tragic backstory and he seemed like he had no idea what he wanted to do, which was another departure from earlier character development. 

Spoilers

Between the Nightbringer and Keris, I found myself extremely irritated by the attempts of the author to redeem them. Not every villain needs or deserves sympathy or redemption and I was not here for it. Both villains were utterly useless by the end, both being taken out by ridiculous means. I could not get over the Nightbringer being talked out of his grand, diabolical plan by a pep talk from Laia. Keris getting what I saw as a happy ending, apparently not remembering her crimes in the afterlife, was the ultimate betrayal of everything the characters had been through.

Elias remains the Soul Catcher in A Sky Beyond the Storm, although he spends none of the book in his assumed role. Instead, the entire book is focused on the will he/won't he remember his past and his love for Laia, while Laia spends half the book brooding and trying to seduce Elias. I've been on the Laia and Elias train since book one, but this just didn't work for me. I think I would have preferred it if Elias had not become the Soul Catcher at all, since it seemed to only be there as a foil to their romance. 

Spoilers

Deux ex machina saves the day as Laia's mom is back from the dead to save the day by taking Elias's spot as Soul Catcher for... reasons? This was another plot development that made absolutely no sense and seemed extremely shoehorned in. I'm truly not shore what the entire Soul Catcher plot point was for other than to get in the way of Elias and Laia's relationshop and give Elias a power up.

Let's talk a little more about what I didn't like before we get into the positives (there are some). Every character in this series seemed to have random superpowers that developed at random times to move the plot forward, but disappeared when they were truly needed. Laia has invisibility powers until she doesn't, Helene has healing powers until she doesn't. I don't even know about Elias. There is also another main character introduced in book four who has not even been hinted at for the other three and is not explained well. 

Spoilers

Can we TALK about the Djinn queen who's been living in Laia's head for apparently the entire story, but only pops up here when she's needed to defeat the Nightbringer? How convenient that she has been giving Laia superpowers for the last two books. I hate how little is explained about her and why and how she's inside Laia's head. How. Convenient. I hate it.

Okay, so I said there were some positives - let's get into it. In a bizarre turn of events, the only character I truly loved in this book was Helene. I despised her in Ember and Torch and she started to grow on me in Reaper. Here she was the only one who seemed like a real person without some kind of insane deus ex machina on her side. I've seen people lamenting Helene's fortunes and exclaiming that she deserved better, but her story was the only one that was believable. 

I will say that I liked where the story concluded, I just felt that A LOT could have been left out of the last two books and they could have been condensed into one. Entire plot lines could have been left out and so much unnecessary drama could have been avoided. So much walking and traveling where nothing important happened could have been left out. The entire new character could have been left out. I am SO disappointed. 

If you loved A Reaper at the Gates, you'll probably love this one too. But if you found Reaper to be lacking after an amazing first two books, you probably won't like this one either. 

Book Review: Crave by Tracy Wolff

Title: Crave (Crave #1)
Author: Tracy Wolff
Publication Date: April 7, 2020
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pages: 592
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My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.

Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.

Which could spell death for us all.

Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.

I will fully admit that Crave was not a book high on my to-read list. In fact, I had no plans to read this book that has been pitched to me as more Twilight for Twihards who miss Edward and Bella. But then the paranormal binge happened and a friend sent me a copy and now I'm hooked. Oops.

While I wouldn't call Crave another Twilight, it definitely hits the same. This story is about Grace who finds herself attending a remote boarding school in Denali, Alaska, after the death of her parents. The school is full of supernatural creatures, but she doesn't know that at first. She ends up falling for Jaxon, a vampire and the school's resident bad boy. He's a tortured hero with a dark past who goes through the "I'm not good for you" motions, but who I still ended up liking a lot. 

Not much happens in this first installment. Crave is primarily about the school and its day to day (albeit dangerous) activities. Throughout the story Grace learns about vampires, witches, dragons, and werewolves, and takes it like a champ. Honestly, one of the most unrealistic parts of the book is that she doesn't bat an eye when she finds out that one of her friends is a literal dragon. Thankfully, there is a tiny bit of action towards the end, but this is truly more romance novel than anything else. Not to say I didn't enjoy it, because I definitely did! 

As I'm sure you've assumed, Crave definitely has its issues. Since not much happens, some parts of this book do drag. (Thankfully book two, which I've already read, is much more action packed.) The world building is a bit suspect and the depiction of Alaska drove my Alaskan husband nuts! My main problem with Crave is the annoying slang that will age this book in a really disappointing way. Grace uses language like AF and FML constantly. 

Despite its issues, Crave was a fun read and I immediately wanted to pick up Crush upon finishing it. Grace is a better heroine than Bella Swan and this book is thankfully devoid of abstinence only and pro-life propaganda. I'm desperately hoping that the success of Crave, along with From Blood and Ash, mean that publishers will finally get back to blessing us with more vampire romance!