Ninth House (Ninth House Series, #1) by Leigh Bardugo

ARC obtained from BookExpo in exchange for an honest review.

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I really think this is going to be one of those books you’ll either love or hate. Fans of Bardugo will pick up on how perfectly she personifies each character, but please be warned, this is not young adult. This book is very much about healing from past traumas while trying to also survive in a society that’s filled with so much death and darkness.

I will say that I was a bit confused in the beginning because this book jumps a lot between two timelines (the past winter, and the present which is spring.) We follow Alex, a girl who attends Yale University and ends up being recruited into a secret society. Alex has a supernatural ability which makes her a unique society member of Lethe House. Yale also has eight other secret societies where each one deals with their own paranormal/supernatural “specialties.” We get glimpses into each society and learning about them was interesting, yet a bit tedious, at times for me.

The murder of a local woman sets the story in motion as Alex suspects one of the societies is involved. But she’s also dealing with the disappearance of her friend and society “mentor”, Darlington. The story weaves both mysteries together, and at times it would be a bit too slow for my liking. However, I was so immersed in the dark mysteries surrounding the cases and the occult that I still enjoyed reading this very much!

Honestly, I would rate the overall story itself four stars. But once we began peeling back the layers of Alex and Darlington’s characters… I just fell in love with the book. The characters are so well written and, in true Bardugo fashion, their backstories really punched me in the gut. Also? There are ghosts. So that’s major bonus points for me!

I found myself very slowly chipping away at this book just so I could absorb all the information about the societies. But also please use caution as the themes are very dark and heavy. Bardugo said she wrote about her own experiences (and that this book is her way of healing) and she is valid and unapologetic. She does not hold back.

Trigger/content warnings: rape of a minor, drug use, cutting, bullying, gore/medical procedures, sexual assault of a minor, sexual acts under the influence of magic/drugs, parental neglect/abandonment, talks of cancer.

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DEV1AT3 (LIFEL1K3, #2) by Jay Kristoff

 

ARC provided by Knopf Books in exchange for an honest review.

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This review might contain spoilers for the first book, LIFEL1K3.

I had so much fun reading this one, y’all. I really loved LIFEL1KE, and this sequel did not disappoint. I will admit, however, that I didn’t love it as much as the first book. But that’s just because I had a few issues with the pacing and some of the predictable twists (which, honestly, is not a bad thing.)

DEV1AT3 picks up right after the events in LIFEL1K3. The group is separated into four POVs: Lemon Fresh, Cricket, Eve, and Ezekiel. Lemon Fresh finds a group of deviates hiding in a bunker, Cricket, no longer a small bot, gets taken in by a cult, Eve is off doing her own weird shit (I know, I’m being vague), and Ezekiel teams up with an old favorite of mine.

I’m going to start out by saying that one of my favorite themes in this series is the friendships and found families. DEV1AT3 still holds true to those themes. Even when Lemon Fresh lives among fellow deviates, she’s always fiercely determined to go out to find the friends she was separated from. And Cricket will forever have my heart. He has so much character growth for a bot, and I want nothing more than for him to be happy!

And while we all know how things ended with Eve in the last book, I can assure you the religious references and vigilantism is still strong in this one. I will say Eve’s POV was probably my least favorite, though, because it wasn’t quite the main focus in this installment.

But the huge new plot line in this book is the Brotherhood, and how it mirrors some wild cult behavior we are seeing today. The Brotherhood is basically out there trying to erase all deviates (people who have “different” abilities) And wow… if that isn’t a giant metaphor for xenophobia and racism we still see today in America…

Overall I immensely enjoyed this sequel, and in true Kristoff fashion, we are left with some more questions than answers! But I adored the journey, and the banter, and the action. I’m already looking forward to the final book!

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Blog Tour: Wicked Fox (Gumiho, #1) by Kat Cho

Thank you to Penguin Teen for hosting this blog tour!

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BOOK DESCRIPTION

An addictive fantasy-romance set in modern-day Seoul.

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret–she’s a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so few believe in the old tales anymore, and with so many evil men no one will miss, the modern city of Seoul is the perfect place to hide and hunt.

But after feeding one full moon, Miyoung crosses paths with Jihoon, a human boy, being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest. Against her better judgment, she violates the rules of survival to rescue the boy, losing her fox bead–her gumiho soul–in the process.

Jihoon knows Miyoung is more than just a beautiful girl–he saw her nine tails the night she saved his life. His grandmother used to tell him stories of the gumiho, of their power and the danger they pose to men. He’s drawn to her anyway. When he finds her fox bead, he does not realize he holds her life in his hands.

With murderous forces lurking in the background, Miyoung and Jihoon develop a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something more. But when a young shaman tries to reunite Miyoung with her bead, the consequences are disastrous and reignite a generations-old feud . . . forcing Miyoung to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon’s.

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MY REVIEW

ARC provided by Penguin Teen in exchange for an honest review.

When I learned I was going to be on this blog tour, I may or may not have screamed. Wicked Fox was such an anticipated YA release of 2019 for me, and it did not disappoint!

This Korean-lore inspired tale of the gumiho (fox with nine tails) was so much fun to read, and I immediately fell in love with our two main stars: Miyoung and Jihoon.

Miyoung: A high school student who is half-gumiho and half-human. She must feed on the gi (or energy) of men in order to survive. Miyoung has a very strained relationship with her mother, who is a beautiful and ancient gumiho. She does not know her father and struggles with wanting a normal life. However, she isn’t good at making friends and tends to be a loner.

Jihoon: A high school boy who has a few close friends to whom he’s very loyal. He doesn’t have a relationship with his mother so he lives with his grandmother and works in her restaurant. Also, we must protect Jihoon at all costs.

Yena: Miyoung’s gumiho mother. She is incredibly strict and protective of Miyoung, and pretty much won’t show mercy to anyone.

I loved how this book is an urban fantasy that’s set in modern day Seoul. The story opens with Miyoung on her hunt for gi, but she ends up saving Jihoon when she sees a goblin attacking him. But then something strange happens in the process: Miyoung’s fox bead, which contains her gumiho soul, gets extracted from her body. And if the bead falls into the wrong hands, that person can control Miyoung.

What made me love this book so much was that we got to follow the budding friendship (and later romance) of Miyoung and Jihoon. Both teens deal with absent parents and it affects them both in different ways. And I don’t want to make things too personal, but I would die for Jihoon. He is so soft and caring, and his relationship with his grandmother was so similar to my relationship with my (late) Thai grandmother.

One thing that this book addresses well is sexism and misogyny.  I appreciated how Cho included some chapters dedicated to the history of the legend of the gumiho. I won’t give away spoilers, but the legend of the “evil” woman who devours men’s souls has some underlying misogyny and it’s interesting how this type of story was told at bed time to scare children. But I really loved how Cho reversed the role of the gumiho; instead of being a seductive liver-eating monster, Miyoung fought temptation to feed, even if it meant potentially losing her immortality. Seriously, I loved seeing Miyoung’s character develop from the first page.

I highly recommend this book if you’re into urban fantasies with a twist on a popular legend. Not only is the romance cute and organic, but the mysteries and mayhem involved had me turning the page late into the night. I cannot wait to read the next installment!

Preorder the book!

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BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE

June 3 – Reverie and Ink – Creative Instagram Picture

June 4 – Read by Tiffany – Review + Creative

June 5 – NovelKnight Book – Author Guest Post: How did your personal experiences influence writing Wicked Fox?

June 6 – Read Forevermore – Creative Instagram Picture

June 7 – Moonlight Rendezvous – Review + Playlist

WEEK TWO

June 10 – The Book’s Buzz – Creative Instagram Picture + Blog Content

June 11 – Xenatine – Creative Instagram Picture

June 12 – Mike the Fanboy – Listicle: Favorite Fox Characters in Movies and TV + potential background on the fox myth

June 13 – Vicky Who Reads – Wicked Fox Phone Wallpapers

June 14 – _Forevermint – Creative Instagram Picture

WEEK THREE

June 17 – Beverage and Book – Creative Instagram Picture + Playlist

June 18 – A Court of Crowns and Quills – Review + Creative Instagram Picture

June 19 – The Fandom – Author Q&A

June 20 – A Novel Escape – Creative Instagram Picture

June 21 – Hollywood News Source – Listicle: Kdramas to Binge After Finishing Wicked Fox

WEEK FOUR

June 24 – Amber after glow reads – Creative Instagram Picture

June 25 – High Lit – Review + Author Guest Post: If you were born as a Gumiho, would you see it as a blessing or a curse?

June 26 – That is Mari – Creative Instagram Picture

June 27 –  Folded Pages Distillery – Review

June 28 –  Bookwormgram – Creative Instagram Picture

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Author Bio

Kat Cho used to hide books under the bathroom sink and then sneak in there to read after bedtime. Her parents pretended not to know. This helped when she decided to write a dinosaur time-travel novel at the tender age of nine. Sadly, that book was not published. She currently lives and works in NYC and spends her free time trying to figure out what kind of puppy to adopt.

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Finale (Caraval, #3) by Stephanie Garber

ARC provided by Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.

Caraval Review | Legendary Review

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This review pains me to write because I was truly expecting a 5 star read.

I have always thought highly of this series. I loved how Caraval focused on a game and the actors within the game. I loved how Legendary expanded that world and introduced us to the Fates. I truly believe this series could’ve just been a duology; extend Legendary to be a slightly longer book, tie up some loose ends, and call it a wrap. I really don’t understand the point of Finale at all.

Finale introduces us to a new villain which… seems like an odd time to bring in a new villain. We already met Jacks in Legendary, and in my opinion, he was the perfect “bad guy.” But we get introduced to the ACTUAL villain who is a Fate. And this Fate wants to destroy basically everyone and take Legend’s place. I just really didn’t understand the point of him at all and he was so “mustache twirly” that I had to roll my eyes at all his scenes.

So let’s talk about Tella and Scarlett. In this book the POV’s alternate between the two sisters, which I actually did like because we got to follow their own little journeys within the story. However, Scarlett was so childish in this book I JUST CANNOT. From the very beginning of the book she decides she wants to string Julian along, and then have Julian and Nicolas compete for her? What kind of childish game is this? I truly do not understand her motivations behind this AT ALL.

Tella is my favorite of the two sisters but she also did some things that were questionable. She kept seeking solace from Jacks, who is, you know… a villain… and would then be surprised that he *gasp* did a villainous thing. Girl, why? Also, Jacks literally tries to give her a heart attack in order to get what he wants from Legend, but then later tells Tella he “didn’t mean to” and would never hurt her? Excuse me? But you literally just gave her a heart attack, dude. I was always Team Jacks but that scene was so unnecessary to me.

And speaking of Jacks (who was my favorite character from Legendary.) His character really got reduced down to be a minor side character who only showed up at convenient times to sweep Tella off her feet. I truly didn’t understand his purpose and felt zero closure with him.

I was also really excited to be introduced to the other Fates, but they all also felt like very minor side characters who didn’t seem to play a pivotal role in the entire story.

Here’s the thing: I’ve always loved the world of Caraval, but in Finale I felt like most of the time we were being TOLD. It’s full of characters speaking in long paragraphs telling us about the history of something or about another character. It really dragged and made me lose focus. I don’t want to be told everything; I want to see it. Also I refuse to even acknowledge the time-travel loophole because that’s my least favorite trope used to tie up a loose end.

This was my most anticipated release of 2019 and I am just kind of feeling neutral about how it all ended? I didn’t hate it, but I just didn’t love it either. I know my review sounds super ranty, but I loved being back in the world and with these characters again. I will also forever love Dante because he’s such a sweet guy. Also I think Stephanie Garber is the loveliest human and I will still read everything she writes. I guess I can hope there will be a spin-off for this series?

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Dragons and Tea Book Club: May Book Announcement!

Hi, friends! I hope you are all having a lovely reading month so far! We are so excited to announce our next book club pick for May. This one has been on our radar for a long time now, and we are hope we all fall in love with this one, too!

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Our May book will be:

DRAGON PEARL by Yoon Ha Lee

The Dates & Breakdown:

May 13th — Page 1 – 64 (Ch. 1 – 7)

May 14th — Page 65 – 124 (Ch. 8 – 14)

May 15th — Page 125 – 183 (Ch. 15 – 22)

May 16th — Page 184 – 242 (Ch. 23 – 28)

May 17th — Page 243 – End (Ch. 29 – 38)

Why we chose this book:

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and Melanie and I really wanted to focus on an Asian-American, ownvoices author! Yoon Ha Lee’s Dragon Pearl is a middle grade sci fi-fantasy book about a girl who comes from a shape-shifting family and can use what is called “fox-magic.” There’s going to be space adventures but I also think there will be some strong themes about family!

I would like to share part of the book synopsis because it just sounds SO GOOD:

Min’s quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams.

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Don’t forget to join our Goodreads Group!

And we will also follow discussions/your reading journey on Twitter and Instagram using the (hashtag) #DragonsAndTeaBookClub!

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See you then! ❤

🐉☕ Melanie: Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads
🐉☕ Amy: Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads

Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle, #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

ARC provided by Knopf Books in exchange for an honest review.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

From the internationally bestselling authors of THE ILLUMINAE FILES comes an epic new science fiction adventure.

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find. Nobody panic.

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This review is going to hurt me, and I feel awful I even feel this way. I want to preface this by saying I really enjoy these authors’ previous works, and I think Amie and Jay are awesome humans who write amazing stories.

But… I was so disappointed by this book. I am trying very hard not to compare this to the Illuminae Files, but it’s hard not to when this is yet another story set in space featuring a group of young cadets.

This book follows six cadets who come together when their squad leader, Tyler, rescues a girl who was cryogenically frozen. Aurora doesn’t understand why she woke up 200 years later than anticipated, because she was supposed to land on a planet called Octavia III. But then we quickly find out Aurora has inherited some strange and deadly powers, so Squad 312 must escape in order to save her and themselves.

Here is Squad 312 at a glance:

Tyler – The Alpha and squad leader. His level of attractiveness and dimples are mentioned so many times it’s going to make you roll your eyes into the back of your skull.

Scarlett – The Face (aka the diplomat) and Tyler’s twin sister. She is described as having firey red hair and just as stunning as her brother.

Cat – The Ace, pilot. She’s tough as nails and loyal to Tyler and Scarlett.

Kal – The Tank, Syldrathi, a Legolas-lookalike according to Aurora, but with darker skin and silver braids. The Syldrathi have a war history with the Terran people.

Finian – The Gearhead, Tech Division. He is Betraskan, so he appears “alien-like”; skin is white and he has to wear contacts which makes his eyes appear all black. He’s bisexual and presents with a disability for muscle weakness, nerve damage, impaired mobility.

Zila – The Brains, Science Division. She is described as having dark brown skin and curly black hair. She’s also very serious and matter-of-fact. I believe she may be on the autism spectrum but this is not my lane so I would love to see others chime in in regards to this.

Aurora – A Cryogenically girl frozen for the last 200 years and was supposed to wake up on Octavia III. She is Asian, described as having short black hair with a white streak, and freckles across her nose. She can do some serious damage but cannot control these new, strange powers.

I think what threw me off from the very beginning was that this was marketed as, “They’re not the heroes we deserve. They’re just the ones we could find.” Maybe it’s just me, but that quote made me assume we were going to be presented with a ragtag team of misfits who are subpar at their jobs but must come together to fight the good fight. When in reality we already have the best-of-the-best Legionnaire, his sister, his best friend, and three other legionnaires who are good at what they do.

So I’m already rolling my eyes at how misleading that was. However, I just could not get past how boring everything was. Part 1 showed us how the squad escaped with Aurora, Part 2 took us to the World Ship where a very long, unnecessarily drawn-out heist took place, and then Part 3 turned into a very bad sci fi movie rip-off.

And usually I can get over a mediocre plot, but when the “action” was putting me to sleep? I just had such a hard time picking this book back up. Also I couldn’t care less about any of the characters. Aside from Kal, everyone was extremely one-dimensional. There’s a cringey “mating bond” that appears between two of the characters, which honestly made me want to DNF right then and there.

Here’s the thing: Even though Illuminae isn’t my favorite series of all time, the friendships in those books were palpable. You felt connected to them. But in Aurora Rising? There were SO MANY POV’S that I couldn’t even keep track of who to care about. Every single squad member had their own POV (that’s SEVEN!) and they were all told in first person. Sorry, not a fan of trying to figure out whose POV I left off on if I had to put the book down in the middle of a chapter.

I know this book has already received a lot of early praise, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I just can’t get over how messy everything was, how bland the characters were, and how much I just wanted everything to be over.

Buddy read with Stephanie!

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Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger

Read during March for the Dragons & Tea Book Club!

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Goodreads Synopsis:

A sharp and funny urban fantasy for “new adults” about a secret society of bartenders who fight monsters with alcohol fueled magic.

College grad Bailey Chen has a few demons: no job, no parental support, and a rocky relationship with Zane, the only friend who’s around when she moves back home. But when Zane introduces Bailey to his cadre of monster-fighting bartenders, her demons get a lot more literal. Like, soul-sucking hell-beast literal. Soon, it’s up to Bailey and the ragtag band of magical mixologists to take on whatever—or whoever—is behind the mysterious rash of gruesome deaths in Chicago, and complete the lost recipes of an ancient tome of cocktail lore.

I LOVED the idea of demon-fighting bartenders, and I actually still enjoyed the premise very much! This book follows Bailey, a Chinese-American college graduate who just moved back home to live with her parents. She’s still searching for a job; her parents keep nudging her toward a career path, but Bailey ends up reconnecting with an old friend (and crush), Zane, who presents her an opportunity to work in his bar.

But Bailey soon learns tending a bar is more than just mixing the perfect cocktail. In fact, when you do mix the perfect cocktail, it turns into a magical drink that gives the consumer special powers. These powers depend on the drink, and there are fun recipes with the history of the ingredients all throughout the book. Some of the special powers include super-human strength, invisibility, and telekinesis.

We find out Zane is part of an underground network of monster-fighting bartenders. There is an entire hierarchy and court system; rules to play by. It’s all very political, and Bailey gets thrown into their world when she inadvertently makes a cocktail that gives her powers to fight off a monster. You see, monsters called tremens lurk in the night among Chicago’s streets. They usually hunt alone, in the shadows. But something is provoking them to start hunting in packs.

So, the thing is… a lot of points in this book missed the mark for me, but I still really appreciate all the things Paul Krueger included, so I’m going to list all the things I liked and disliked.

What I liked:

• The fact that this book is ownvoices, written by a Filipino-American author.
• It’s new adult, which is a genre I rarely see boosted. As a 30-something-year-old, I like to see books that feature characters who are in their mid-late 20’s (or older) because I instantly connect with them so much better.
• The Asian rep. Bailey is Chinese-American and her parents are Chinese. I was able to relate to the “Asian family expectations” story line so much.
• Diversity rep for a trans character, gay relationship, black side character, and rep for blind/visually impairment.
• The pub settings were always my favorite parts!
• The idea that it’s ok to not know what you want to do after you graduate from college. That it’s ok you’re still trying to figure things out.
• The history behind the magical cocktails and ingredients. Those parts were so humorous and I’d love to read an entire book on just the drinks alone!
• I am a sucker for any book that takes place in Chicago.

What I Didn’t Like:

• I didn’t feel connected to the world building, and wasn’t a fan of how the monsters were utilized in the story.
• Zane. Ugh. Zane! He was the worst and I don’t like how Bailey was totally fine with forgiving him.
• The death of a certain animal. Like… I can’t.
• As the story progressed I felt like it derailed from being monster-fighting-centric. I wasn’t sure why Jess was even introduced, and I found that story line really irrelevant.
• I just became really bored by the 50% mark and just… wanted it to be over.

I’m so sorry I didn’t end up enjoying this book as much as I had hoped, but I am so glad I picked it up! I would’ve never read this if it wasn’t for the book club Melanie and I started, and I’m so thankful we got to read it with so many people!

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Blog Tour: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

ARC provided by Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

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About the book:

A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.

A prince in danger must decide who to trust.

A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.

Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.

In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy.

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My review:

I’ve been having difficulty forming my thoughts after finishing this book. This is definitely a quiet, slow-burn of a story. There is a romance, gorgeous writing, a unique magic system, and lots of dark politics.

Wicked Saints mixes politics, royalty, and godly powers. There are two rival nations: Kalyazin and Tranavia. We follow Nadya, a cleric who has been trained to communicate with a plethora of gods, wielding their powers through the touch of prayer beads. Then there’s Serefin, the prince of Tranavia but also a powerful blood mage. And then there’s Malachiasz, who, in my opinion, stole the story. He’s a rebel blood mage who allies with Nadya as they both flee from Serefin’s army. He’s the “dark and mysterious” type which immediately caught my attention.

While there are two POVs in this book (Nadya’s and Serefin’s) their stories cross early and soon Nadya, Serefin, and Malachiasz realize they all have the same goal: to dethrone the King of Tranavia (aka Serefin’s father.) Y’all, this is a very densely political book, where oftentimes I felt it overshadowed the magic system…

Which leads me to say that I wish Nadya played a bigger role. I expected Nadya to be the main character in this book, but instead she felt more like a side character to Malachiasz and Serefin’s motives. In fact, most of the time Nadya just went along with everything Malachiasz did, and I kept wanting her to unleash her fury. But instead, she dwindled into a naive love interest. She quickly went from being a character I admired to being one of my least favorite characters in the book.

I actually enjoyed Serefin’s chapters the best, because we really got to see and feel his horrible relationship with his father. The King of Tranavia is… how do I say this… a real piece of sh*t. He’s abusive and is totally fine with sacrificing his own family in order to possess the power of the gods. I also think Serefin had the most character development, and I loved his dynamic with his two guards, Kacper and Ostyia. I would read an entire book about this trio!

I wish I could say I liked Malachiasz. I did in the beginning, as he was low key reminding me of the Darkling from The Grisha Trilogy, but then I just stopped caring about him. He is supposed to be mysterious, so I am not going to say any spoilers, but I just didn’t like how his story played out. It felt really cheesy and there was no build-up to the finale.

I think I would’ve enjoyed this book more if we got to see more of Nadya communicating with the gods and seeing her use that power. She was a pawn in a man’s story, which just feels kind of bad. I was so frustrated during the last 10% of the book, but I am now high key needing the sequel ASAP!

I think the politics is super fascinating, and I adored how each of the gods Nadya communicated with all have their own personalities and quirks. The book starts out with a bang and while there may have been some issues with the characters for me, I felt like it had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Duncan’s writing is incredibly beautiful and creative. I am still genuinely impressed with how she built this world, and how she created each of the gods. This was some high-fantasy level stuff that still tackled important themes for a young adult audience, and I think so many people are going to love this book.

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EMILY A. DUNCAN works as a youth services librarian. She received a Master’s degree in library science from Kent State University, which mostly taught her how to find obscure Slavic folklore texts through interlibrary loan systems. When not reading or writing, she enjoys playing copious amounts of video games and dungeons and dragons. Wicked Saints is her first book. She lives in Ohio.

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In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children, #4) by Seanan McGuire

ARC provided by Tor.com in exchange for an honest review.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

This fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she’s found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

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This is the fourth installment in the Wayward Children series and, once again, Seanan McGuire transported me to such a magical, and yet brutal, realm. I cannot recommend this series enough.

I was always curious about Lundy’s background ever since she made her first appearance in book one, Every Heart a Doorway. In that book, she is an older therapist who works alongside the director of the school. However, she looks like a child. When I learned In an Absent Dream was going to be about Lundy, I was actually a bit nervous because I had a feeling it was going to break my heart.

And it pretty much did. Katherine Lundy’s story here is a prequel to book one, and we follow her from the very first time she found her door. She opens a door to the goblin market, where she quickly learns everything has its price, and that everything that’s traded must be fair value. But what one may consider fair may not be fair to others. It’s a vicious game of paying a toll, and it is a system that Lundy accepts so she can keep visiting the goblin market again and again.

Lundy also meets Moon, someone whom she quickly befriends and is the driving force for her to want to stay in this world. But Lundy also feels tethered and obligated to stay in her mortal world, with her family. Even though she hates that her life is pretty much mapped out for her, she feels deeply torn about leaving her sister. However, she can’t shake the desire to return to the goblin market because it’s the one place where she feels she truly belongs.

This book takes a look at what price we are willing to pay, or what we are wiling to exchange, in order to have the life we want. A life that’s fair for Lundy, who only wants to be able to live with Moon at the goblin market, but still return to visit her family in her mortal world. But Lundy learns so many lessons along the way, and they are horrible, and brutal, and honest — that nothing is fair value even when you’re led to believe otherwise.

I may not have 100% connected with this story as much as I did with Down Among the Sticks and Bones (which is still my favorite) but getting Lundy’s backstory was everything for me.

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Blog Tour: Enchantée by Gita Trelease

ARC provided by Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Enchantee

Author: Gita Trelease

Pages: 464

Genre: YA Historical fiction, fantasy

Publication Date: February 5, 2019

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About the book:

Love. Magic. Revolution…

“Deliciously addictive.” ―Stephanie Garber, author of Caraval
“A heady, sparkling dream of a book.” ―Margaret Rogerson, author of An Enchantment of Ravens
“An utterly beguiling spell.” ―Laura Sebastian, author of Ash Princess

Paris is a labryinth of twisted streets filled with beggars and thieves, revolutionaries and magicians. Camille Durbonne is one of them. She wishes she weren’t…

When smallpox kills her parents, Camille must find a way to provide for her younger sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on magic, Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille pursues a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Using dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into a baroness and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for magic. As she struggles to reconcile her resentment of the rich with the allure of glamour and excess, Camille meets a handsome younge inventor, and begins to believe that love and liberty may both be possible.

But magic has its costs, and soon Camille loses control of her secrets. And when revolution erupts, Camille must choose―love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, reality of magic―before Paris burns.

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Review:

Enchantee is a story set in Paris during the French Revolution in 1789, but with a magical twist. We follow Camille, a girl who is trying her best to support her siblings after her parents died. She has a younger sister, Sophie, who is ill, and an older brother, Alain, who is basically a worthless, gambling-addicting drunk.

Sophie knows she can wield magic. In fact, there are three types of magic in this alternate Parisian universe:

1. Magie ordinaire: “for changing things.”
2. Glamoire: “for changing oneself.”
3. Magie bibelot: “for imbuing objects with magic, making them sentient.”

But then Sophie discovers a rare magical item that she can use to glamor herself, and she decides to enter the French Court, playing cards and gambling but using magic to help along; with the end game of giving herself and her sister a better life.

“Magic is a cheater’s game, and everyone who sees it wants to play.”

I was immediately enthralled in this historical fantasy world and was really looking forward to seeing how the magic system was going to play into the story. While we do get to see some magic, it actually was quite minimal, so I was hoping for more. Also the scenes in Versailles turned out to be my least favorite parts, which was a surprise because I thought I’d like them the best. And if I’m being honest, the villain wasn’t my favorite. I think my feelings are that I’m not super into gambling stories and this book had several scenes depicting it.

“But under the surface of the glamoire there was rot.”

However, my favorite parts of this book actually weren’t even tied to the magic or aristocracy; rather I was loving the scenes with the hot air balloon inventors. It was clear (and confirmed in the notes at the end of the book) that certain characters were inspired by the Montgolfier brothers, who pioneered the first lighter-than-air ships (I’m an aviation nerd, sorry.) I wanted to see more of these balloon makers tied into the main story line, but I really loved how a certain romance bloomed from it.

I also really appreciated how a certain biracial character talks about racism, and that being biracial has sometimes made him feel confused and the target of hate. As someone who is biracial, I completely related to this character about feeling like I don’t quite fit into a certain identity. I truly loved how the author respectfully brought up this topic.

This book took so many monumental events in France’s history and spread them throughout the story. While sometimes I felt like it got to be a bit much, I really think fans of historical fantasy may appreciate all the nods to the French Revolution in this book. There are also the themes of sisterhood, poverty, and hope, and how terribly corrupt the aristocracy was at that time. If you’re a historical fiction fan but want some elements of magical fantasy sprinkled throughout, then I think you may enjoy this book!

Trigger/content warnings: abuse, gambling, alcoholism, slut shaming.

All quotes are taken from an advance reader’s copy and may change upon publication.

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About the Author:

Born in Sweden to Indian and Swedish parents, Gita Trelease has lived in many places, including New York, Paris, and a tiny town in central Italy. She attended Yale College and New York University, where she earned a Ph.D. in British literature. Before becoming a novelist, she taught classes on writing and fairy tales. With her husband and son, Gita divides her time between a village in Massachusetts and the coast of Maine. ENCHANTÉE is her debut novel.

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