Faye and the Ether, Nicole Bailey

13+B

Amazing read! It only takes a few things to change the normal genre of YA, and this book does it perfectly. I have read this a few months ago and reread it since. The story starts normally. Faye finds out that she is from another world. Handsome guy called Daron takes her there and shows her around. but what makes this book standout is that Faye herself doesn’t have a romantic relationship that dominates the book. In most YA, Daron would be her love interest, but in this other love stories surrounding the heroine provided the romance. That changed the entire book, the reader wasnt fretting or getting annoyed about who she was going to get with and so you were fully submerged in the story. Daron and his love interests romance is perfectly done, and it is nice to see gay representation in YA fantasy. I adored Daron’s relationship – and it made so much more sense as they had known each other for years and had had time to develop feelings and know each other.

Characters – 4.5/5 – Adore the main cast, Daron and Aaron are an amazing couple, and Daron is very sweet towards Faye as well. Faye is an excellent main character and not an insta-warrior which supports the story very well.

World – 5/5 – A fantasy world based of mythology? Yess!!!

Romance – 5/5 – Swoony A – Alex and Daron do have one scene where they sleep together, but less than a paragraph and very very euphemistic – I honestly would say that some Sweet make out scenes have more details but I still give it the Swoony A because they do technically sleep together on page.

Plot – 4 stars – it was a good plot, but the main focus was on Faye and the adjustment between two worlds and how she was leaving everything behind back home.

Trigger warnings/things to be aware of: Faye’s mother is brainwashed into not noticing that her daughter is missing for months on end. Centaur culture is very close to mythology’s wild representations and there are mentions of their ‘reputations’ which could be a suggestion at SA. Their culture also has a ‘mating circle’ that is never seen on page but mentioned in passing. Because of these, i have bumped up a 12+B rating into a 13+ but it isnt a violent 13+. There are two f-cks in case you mind the profanity but it isnt excessive. Alex and Daron do have one scene where they sleep together but is not described in any real detail and I wouldnt classify it as even 0.5/5 for spice as it is very very vanilla but that also bumps it up to a B.

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Graceling, Kristen Cashore

14+

Okay so first I LOVE the covers. ‘dont judge a book by its cover’ may be apt but i certainly do judge the cover if it doesnt fit the book. Both the first and second versions of the covers really fit the essence of this story and I love how they are both on opposite style sides. I first read it with the cover with her standing against a gray background which really captures the characters internal separation from the people around her but the latest cover is more of a traditional fantasy vibe with just a few simple elements tied together that really scream the book.

I have just reread this book for the third time and to my delight the plot still holds up. I dont know quite how to describe the plot. The book is split up into three different sections, The Lady Killer, The Twisted King and The Shifting World and they all have their own plots and storylines within the overarching story which keeps it from dragging and becoming boring.

Katsa is a truely strong heroine and I enjoyed how Cashore showed us that she still has her limits, (especially emotionally and psychologically) but despite that she does choose to do the right thing. I almost feel like there could have been a book before this about how Katsa slowly realised just how much the king was using her but this story launches us right in at the perfect point as the seven kingdoms change forever. I found it a quick paced read, especially in the later two sections which improved massively. In the beginning I felt it lagged a little but gave us some interesting world-building details.

The world premise is a fantasy/historical feel with the fantasy Graces. People (seemingly at random but i am hoping we learn more in the next book!) are Graced with supernatural abilities, some relitavely innocent like being able to hold your breath for a very long time and some very dangerous like strength, perfect aim, heightened senses and in Katsa’s case a Killing Grace. Gracelings are easily picked out because they have different coloured eyes, like Katsa’s blue and green, and Po’s silver and gold. I also enjoyed seeing how Katsa’s relationship with her power changed as she used it further and further out of her uncle’s control and it struck a very delicate balance; having an assassin/kings executioner as the main character means the reader expects them to already have a lot of training and have a firm grasp on their power but Cashore also balanced that with Katsa’s power being stretched in other ways.

World – 4.5/5 – Love the concept of the Gracelings, we get a good look at different kingdoms and different types of people in it.

Characters – 4/5 – I do love Katsa’s strength and resilience, and Po is a very sweet cinnamon roll of a love interest even through he can hold his own. Bitterblue is a character we have only just started to explore (and one of the books on my TBR is titled Bitterblue so I can guess we’ll be seeing more of her!) but the rest of the supporting characters felt a little flat. I enthusiastically loathed King Leck but I did wish we learnt a bit more about his backstory as the main antagonist.

Romance – 4/5 – Swoony Romance A – I enjoyed it again! Their romance is somehow deeply entangled in the story and yet barely a subplot. They do sleep together on page, but it is barely anything and I honestly think it could have been removed or you could skip it (its only about half a paragraph) and it isnt graphic at all. It does push up the rating a little but I would say you could read it a little earlier if you dont mind/skip that.

Plot – I have gushed about it up there so I’ll just say 4.5/5 stars!

Things to be aware of: There is a bit of violence – it is quite a high tension novel and several people do die. There are a few sexual innuendos and threats as well as mentions of SA. Power being exploited and a very potent form of propaganda/metal control is explored (i am trying really hard not to give a spoiler here) but all of that only makes it up to about a 3/5 of violence. Two very vanilla sexual scenes that border on fade to black (click on the orange link to see what I mean by Sexy Romance).

3

Squire by Tamora Pierce

13+

This is the third book in the Protector of the Small series and I absolutely love this one to bits.

We start with Keladry walking through a near empty palace as all the knights have come and picked their Squires already. As the only girl she hasn’t even got any interviews with potential knight masters and has to acknowledge the fact that despite all her struggles she might end up being assigned to a desk knight. That is one of the things that Pierce does so well, she really shows how slow change is and how even the most powerful people inciting that change sometimes struggle against the tide of opposition and yet it never feels like a lecture or even a large facet of her characters.

This book takes us so much further than the palace complex, introducing us to the difficulties that had never been discussed with the pages at the palace among the privileged elite. Travelling under Lord Raoul and working alongside the Kings Own Keladry gets to experience why she wanted to be a knight so much – to protect people and achieve justice. I feel like Keladry’s experience really grows throughout this book, she gains the battle knowledge and experience that she is going to need and we get to see her take on some leadership.

This book also has the terrifying caveat of the Chamber at the end – all the work Keladry has put in, all the sacrifices she has made of her future will all be for naught if the Chamber finds her unworthy. Squires die in the Chamber, she is the first female knight to openly go through the Chamber in a few hundred years and all eyes are on her.

World – 5/5 – I love it so much and we get to see such a wide range of different terrain across Tortall.

Romance – 5/5 – Sweet Romance – there is a little romance in this one, Keladry has an adorable relationship with someone we have met in previous books. However it never becomes the focus although we see Keladry thinking about how it relates to her career as well as how people view her (the small adknowledgement from Raoul that it will always be harder for her to court among her peers because she is a woman and there are a lot of people eager to besmirch her reputation was a delightful small detail.)

Plot – 5/5 – it never drags, there are multiple different subplots and plots and so many different characters that interact with Kel but yet they never feel bland.

Characters – 5/5 stars – I love the characters. They are so realistic even the ones I hate and they all have such depth to them.

Happy Reading!

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2024 Swoony Awards Results!

The results are in for the swoony awards! Several of my favourite reads (KM Shea’s Blood and Ruin series especially which I loved soooo much) are on this list and I have certainly added a few feet to my TBR reading list!

2024 Swoony Awards (589 books) | Goodreads

Award Hosts: Kathy from Bookworm Nation and Katie from Hiding in the Page

Let me know which ones you have read or are planning to read in the comments below!

Happy Reading!

 “The Swoony Awards are a Reader’s Choice Award recognizing excellence in clean secular, wholesome romance. We wanted a way to show our appreciation to these awesome authors who write the kind of books that we love. It’s also a great way to find new books and a good go-to when looking for something fun to read.”

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Succession: deep dive review

A deep dive into the world of the Castle by Jessica Day George and just how simple a name can be in worldbuilding.

It can be incredibly easy to take middle grade fantasy worldbuilding at a basic face value and not really decode and appreciate just how much depth it often has. Jessica Day George has written several series, two of which are in my top fifty all time reads. I can reread and reread and love and love them forever despite having left the target age back a few years ago.

In Tuesdays at the Castle, Celie’s father is Glower the Seventy-Ninth. We also get told that the name is inherited with the throne, not given at birth to denote the heir. Celie herself doesn’t know (or never on page says her fathers name) which just highlights how much the name Glower really covers up whom actually has taken the throne. The people of that kingdom if they lived further away might not even know that there had been a coup, a new king can just take over assume the name as all of the heirs do at their coronation and that’s that. There is no huge change of dynasty name, just a swap out of the person who takes on the name of Glower.

It means that the kingdom of Sleyne looks like they have had an incredibly stable reign of the same dynasty to foreign countries. They have had seventy-nine kings when the book starts which to the outside world all bear the same name. In the old world, and in fantasy, sharing a family name often shows whom is eldest, heir and offers a common link to tie people together. Think of people sharing a surname. If there is a King Tristan the III whom dies and his heir is called Tristan the IV then it lends the heir a legitimacy. It also ties the heir to the throne, being christened the royal name that will inherit means that there is no switching around of heirs (or at least if it is then it is a more visible situation).

We learn almost instantly that Celie’s father has already swapped around his heirs at the Castle’s desire. His oldest son Bran’s room had been filled with wizardry things and astrology, so Glower the Seventy-Ninth makes his second son Rolf heir and sends Bran of to the collage. This shows not just the power of the name being given at the coronation not christening but also of the Castle.

Glower makes a decision that will change the history books, and he does it because his Castle swaps around a few rooms. The Castle always selects its kings, and in fact we learn that Glower himself is only the tenth in his direct bloodline. The Kings barber was crowned as Glower the sixty-ninth, instead of the late kings heir. The Castle has almost complete control (at least in the beginning) over the kings ascension.

When (spoiler if you haven’t read the book) the Vhervhish prince Khelsh tries to take over, it is mentioned that he will be crowned after Rolf is assassinated during the ten year period of his regency. What will he be crowned as? Glower the Eighty-First.

Such a small detail, made to supplement the power of the Castle over its residents and its sentience. But such an important one.

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The Awakening, Jenna Elizabeth Johnson

11+

As someone who has read the entire series multiple times I have to say that this might be my favourite book. After (spoiler – Hroombra’s passing) Jahrra and Jaxx travel into Liden, the city where she is supposed to go to university. Jahrra had fought back against this decision vehemently in the previous book, taking it as an attempt of Jaxx’s to take her out of her comfortable life. However, Liden is honestly one of my favourite cities in fantasy. It feels so real and rounded out, with the university, and the backstreets with their little hidden shops. Despite Jahrra’s inexperience with cities, higher society and slightly rocky path it was a joy to finally get away from Ellysian and Eydeth.

One of the huge things that stood out to me was Jahrra’s maturity. In this book, despite a few scenes where we can see the old Jahrra, she is mostly balanced and emotionally perceptive. This is a much needed change from the hot headed girl she used to be which constantly butted heads with Jaxx and ran huge risks just because she could.

We see Deneah the Mystic again, and another Mystic whom adds depth to the development of just who is she really is and her motives but her role in the story is quite minor as Jahrra is now surrounded by a whole city full of people who know her human heritage.  

I LOVE the spirit stone shop, it is such a delightfully fantastical place with a twist on the usual magic. I love it when magic in books is used for everday yet special things. In this case, spirit stones are a way of keeping a bit of a loved one with you, (not creepy I promise, just a bit of hair or a nail clipping!) which is put into a potion that becomes a shining jewel of a stone with a heart fleck which represents that persons love for you. I want to go sooooo much, it is definitely on my top ten fantasy locations to visit.

Plot –  4/5 – Honestly it is still her preparation for the true Chosen One journey, but we are certainly reaching the end of that so expect much more plot points being hit in the next book!

World –  5/5 – Love the city, the spirit stone shop especially and I JUST HAVE to love Jaxx’s mansion with its sweet little touches.

Characters –   4/5

Romance – NA –  Its not really present, there is a mention of someone having a crush on someone but it evaporates.

Things to be aware of: Manipulation, but very minor and only to characters around her.

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As Good as Dead, Holly Jackson

14+B

The last instalment of this thriller left me wide eyed. I love it! It is exactly what I have wished authors would do but they always seem to steer clear of but Jackson goes for it 100% and this is the best ending I could have imagined – and one I didn’t!

I am trying really hard not to give spoilers (I think I am going to do a series roundup with this one where I will chat about spoilers but spoilers have no place in a book review). Pip is only a few weeks away from Kings Collage Cambridge and getting away from it all the mess and complexity in Little Kilton.

But Pip has been replaying the events of the last two books, especially the bloody end of Child Brunswick in the last book over and over. She hears gunshots in every sound, even just a door opening and closing and her own heartbeat. It is heartbreaking to see the fierce Pip of the first book so unsure about her own morality and the morality of everyone around her. She has seen the lines be drawn and redrawn and she has lost all faith in the justice system.

It has failed her multiple times with wrongful accusations and letting the rapist Max Hastings which she gave to them on a silver platter with multiple witnesses get away free. She has started identifying with the criminals she has been told are evil but instead she just sees it as gray. She cannot sleep and has resulted to drugs bought from Luke, her local drug-dealer and a part of the equation that started all this mess six years ago. I love the realism of this, it really shows the more complex lines in some of these cases – who are victims and who are victims who have been portrayed as villains.

She has decided one last case – a Jane Doe murder from Cambridge when she goes to uni. A black and white case and justice at the end of it to rewrite the rules of the world. Of course, this isn’t going to happen.

She starts getting weird notes, and the stalker quickly escalates from online threats to chalk figures without heads on her drive to beheaded pigeons.

This was honestly the most chilling read yet, for the first time Pip is going to die if she doesn’t work quick enough and for the first time we understand just how deep this whole entangled mess goes with Andie and Charlie and the rest of Little Kilton. I – I was honestly worried about Pip’s sanity at the beginning but she soon stabilised out into the intelligent if slightly obsessive Pip we love.

Plot – 1000000/5 – just so good, there are so many ties even back to the first chapters of the first book and Holly Jackson is a genius. Just so good.

Characters – 10000/5 – oh they are perfect! And I loved seeing a different side of Andie she is such an interesting complex character.

World  – 5/5 stars – so good, I love how Holly Jackson doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of the world.

Romance – 10000/5 stars – Soft Romance – oh my god I love Ravi. I just love him. He is perfect in every way and we truly get a test of how far he is willing to go for Pip. He is the first book boyfriend I’ve read that completely believes the heroine even when evidence points against it. And I love it.

Things to be aware of: 14+B – I almost made this a 15, it was truly terrifying and dark in places so if you don’t like threat – and I’d say I’m pretty good with mature dark content – then give it a few more months! Warnings: murder (slightly more graphic here), kidnapping, serial killerism, police injustice, wrongful accusations, misogyny rape (mentions to the past books) and violence 5/5 and high threat, animal death

1

Good Girl, Bad Blood, Holly Jackson

13+B

This was the sequel to a good girls guide to murder and Pip has promised not to investigate again into any crimes after she ended up at the hospital for the double homicide case. She has gained internet fame documenting her search for justice and the events of the last book on her podcast titled – what else? – a good girls guide to murder and is in her last year of high school – investigation is an obsession Pip is refusing to go down again.

Of course, this promise is immediately shattered when her friends older brother Jamie goes missing. The police dismiss the case, he is a twenty-four year old who dropped out of uni and has run away twice before with no contact. Connor (her friend) begs Pip to investigate and after trying to get the police involved she reluctantly agrees.

Unlike last time her investigation is more public with episodes of her podcast regularly airing to share the new developments (I wondered personally about if the villains were getting a little too much forewarning because of the podcast but they didn’t which I was relieved about). Pip is asking people for any footage/sightings of Jamie, but the case goes far wider than that.

I loved that the previous book contained some of the major clues for this one and it really emphasised how despite the small town appearance, so much more goes on under the surface people don’t want to acknowledge. Some people are furious with Pip for exposing crimes they would have preferred not to know about and as the trials for the guilty from the last book go on the themes of injustice vs justice with an added element of vigilantism is really interesting to read. It doesn’t have quite the complexity of the previous book, I feel like Pip was really wading through five years of secrets there that she didn’t have in this book but it was completely unputdownable.

Plot – 5/5 – it was great, it kept me guessing and I am hooked for the next book despite it resolving nicely.

Characters – 4.5/5 – they were great! Half a point deduced because the new characters of this one didn’t have quite the depth and darkness of the last book which balanced so well against Pip’s organised investigation. Love love love Ravi and his feelings about Jamie were so well expressed – he has been the family that lost their son and he is trying to desperately stop that from happening to Jamie’s family.

World – 5/5 – I love it, it is so realistic the underbelly of the little town that no one looks at but everyone kinda knows is there.

Romance – 5/5 – Soft Romance – like the last book it is a subplot but I still love it so much!

Things to be aware of: child death (referee too) serial killers, gun violence, drugs, mentions of past SA (none graphic, nothing on the page), violence in general, dangers of catfishing, also several f-bombs that all seemed to be in the same chapter but in case you avoid that I just thought I’d mention it!

1

A Good Girls Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson

13+B

Okay so I have heard so much about this series, people are talking about it all over booktube and several of my friends have loved it. And it held up.

I used to read a LOT of mystery – I mean a lot, I still have an entire three deep shelf of enid blytons mysteries – and this is a nice step up and it does hold up! The investigation style with Pip conducting various recorded interviews, getting access to police logs and cross examining different peoples accounts unfurled an insane story about Andie Bell and Sal Singh two teenagers who died five years ago.

It is a cold case Pip takes on as a summer project because the inaccuracies have always nagged at her. Sal is universally believed to have done it in her town and yet Pip’s personal experience of Sal isn’t one of a boy who could kill his girlfriend in cold blood. It is complex, the logs, Pip’s own life apart from her investigation which starts to overlap more and more and then the realisation that several people she knows had a very intimate part in the lead up to Andie Bell’s murder. I am trying not to give too many spoilers and that is so hard in mystery so I’ll stop there!

Plot – 1000000/10. I did predict a few things but the lies and the coverups had my doubting myself several times before I realised I was right!

Characters – 5/5 stars. They are nuanced and none of the main cast feel like a recycled archetype while they still show all the different things that have lead to a seemingly simple cold case. It is horrifying how the police didn’t even bother interviewing several people surrounding her because they just instantly assumed it was Sal, her Indian boyfriend who committed suicide. i am diverging from characters here so I will just say that I appreciated Pip calling the reporter out on his racism and prejudice he was insufferable and it is people like him that meant Sal would never have got justice for something he got caught up in.

World – 5/5 stars.  well its our world! I love it being set in England tho – so many books are sent in America it is always nice to have a British book. It felt realistic, Holly Jackson didn’t end up ignoring the natural assumptions and darker side of mystery while not making it glorified or graphic.

Romance – 4/5 – Soft Romance – *giggles and kicks feet in the air* just adorable

Things to be aware of: Racism, sexual assault, rape, murder, police injustice, drugs – none of the SA is on the page or the murder. Animal death (specifically a dog)

2

The Immortal Games, Annaliese Avery

13+

Greek gods. Trials. Main character with revenge motivations?

I knew I had to read it and I really enjoyed this one.

The main character Ara is the little sister of other books. Her older sister Estella was taken as one of Zeus’s tokens to be part of the Immortal Games (but you don’t get immortality as a prize, just an open wish and I loved hearing what the others were going to wish for – all less selfish than Ara’s original wish). After Estella dies and Ara wakes up to her sisters crushed twisted body on the bed next to her all she can think of is revenge and Zeus’s life. She spends years training to be chosen as a token alongside Theron another boy who desperately wants the chance to prove himself.

The Immortality Trials themselves will end up sounding like the Hunger Games but they are most certainly not. The gods each have a token and they roll a dice to control what happens to their tribute in each trial. The tokens know their best chance is to stay together but they are also picked off and only one can win at the end – so what is their strategy? Zeus, Poseidon and Hades have a wager, whoevers token wins gets the other two’s thrones. And Ara is Hades’s token. Did I mention Hades doesn’t believe in violence and wont give her weapons like the other tokens have?

Anyway to the stars!

Plot – 3.5/5 – it was entertaining and quick paced but didn’t have quite the depth and complexity I wanted.

World – 4/5 – I enjoyed it! It was clearly well thought out and I liked having the dreamscape as well.

Characters – 4/5 – this got an extra star because of how great it was to hear why other tokens were so desperate to win – it is easy just to focus on what Ara wants but the others had legitimate and selfless goals.

Romance – 3/5 – Sweet Romance – I just, I don’t like Hades as a love interest. He just –  I cant get over the original myths and he would need to be rewritten amazingly (read into a completely different person with no connection to the myths) for me to forget that (and a closer age gap! I have seen it done with mythology edited or made so that the gods are younger. Other than that I enjoyed it and also how her relationship with Theron changed during the trials.

Things to be aware of: some violence and death as well as betrayal.

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