Tag: ya

Damsel, Evelyn Skye

14+B

This is just so so so good.

I read it in one sitting! It has dragons, princesses, mazes and above all a really intelligent main character who was such a joy to read. Elodie’s love for her people guided so much of her decisions and the rest were made up out of love for her sister Floria. Throughout all of this there was the feeling of nostalgia but also of something new. Of something I hadn’t ever really seen done before. Evelyn Skye creates a vast world and timeline, introducing us to specific pinpoints that show who came before and how their path has molded Elodie’s. I love the message throughout that Elodie, intelligent strong and resourceful as she is couldn’t have survived without the sacrificed princesses that came before her and all of their research and experiences was building up and then culminating in her.

The theme of doing the honestly abhorrent thing for ‘the greater good’ was an idea that was explored through different characters, and its rare that I honestly am not sure who is the villain. I hate some of them yes, love others but in the end the true villain is the circumstances that have lead them here. The history that has ended up with a whole kingdom believing it is the right thing for three princesses to be sacrificed to a dragon every year for eight hundred years (don’t worry I’m not giving spoilers, anything I mention I make sure is the first few chapters or the synopsis).

Its just so beautiful, the exploration of this golden kingdom which is built on the blood and pain of young naive girls because no one questions it. Arranged marriages are common among royalty, you pick the brides from lower noble families from starving duchies and no one ever notices.

This book is one I will remember forever and honestly could write forever on but I’ll go a head to the star ratings (and gush some more in them!).

World – 5/5 stars, its explored beautifully we really get the impressions of all the different locations and landscapes from the dusty dessert that is Elodies home to the glittering palace to the darkness of the lair.

Plot – 1000000/5, its not just the story of Elodie its the story of all the princesses before her and it’s the story of a stepmother who knew something was wrong and was ignored and a royal family who had been raised in such a mess they didn’t know what was right anymore.

Romance – NA

Characters – 1000000/5 – just so good. We have so many different characters, some of which get a pretty limited amount of page space but we never feel that they aren’t real. They are always so realistic and we can always feel their dilemmas and pain even if they are not one of the multiple POVs throughout the book.

Things to be aware of: Threat, death (mentioned and avoided but only moderate on the page), corpses and flashbacks of death.

This needs to go on everyone’s TBR!

Happy Reading

Lottie

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Waiting on Wednesday: Heir of Storms

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme that originated at Breaking the Spine but has now linked up with Waiting for Wednesday at Wishful Endings. It is always a fun chance to display books that are going to be joining our bookshelves very soon in 2025!

Thanks to Puffin and Net Gallery for this e-ARC
Pub: 5 Jun 2025
Age Category: YA
Genre: fantasy, elemental magic

Heir of Storms by Lauryn Murray

14+

This book just felt like a nostalgic fantasy read in the beginning but it evolved into so much more really altering a few genre expectations in a way I loved. The world is very reminiscent of a traditional fantasy world with a five elemental system but we also got lots of little worldbuilding details about the kingdoms interaction with the Otherlands. I really liked the way we were rapidly drawn into the action with centuries of tradition behind it that is driving all the characters. I honestly would love to have another book that covered previous trials of the Council because this idea of competing for crowns and the Heirs being from the same families just ups the tension and excitement of the trials.  

Blaze already being such a notorious figure in the world having created a huge empire wide storm at her birth was a nice change from people just learning about their power (we do get good power development tho which I always like).

It was a really good book and I cant wait for the sequel!

World – 5/5 – I loved the world, it was quite a traditional world and magic system but the way it was presented was amazing and I really enjoyed that.

Plot – 4/5 – we had the trials, we had Blaze’s growth and power and we had all the other subplots that wove together very nicely. I enjoyed it and it moves quickly so there is always something new on the next page.

Romance – 3.5/5 – Suggestive Romance – it is a romantasy but I feel like the romance hadn’t quite stabilised or developed yet for me to truly decide if I like the love interest so this rating will likely go up after reading the sequel. In some places I thought the romance went a little darker than I usually like – the love interest did lean a little bit more towards violence – but it isn’t enough to raise the rating or add a B. There was a twist on the usual romance trope triangle which I loved but wont give any more spoilers on!

Characters – 4/5 – we had all the good elements in the characters, I really liked Flint, his confidence in his own abilities highlighted just how society really supports and uplifts people born with the expected power but people like Blaze who are given a power that isn’t supposed to exist are feared.

Things to be aware of: Fantasy violence (I would say quite low, maybe 2/5), slavery that is just excepted by everyone in the world as the norm. There are a few spots where the romantasy comes through stronger and we have a few kissing scenes if you mind that.

1

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the Broke and Bookish and now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl where bloggers are given a prompt that is usually a list of ten bookish things.

This weeks prompt was –

New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024

Lauren Roberts – I just love Powerless so much and cant wait for Fearless to come out this year!

Jennifer Lynn Barnes – I cant believe it took me so long to read the Inheritance Games, its so good and I cant wait for my TBR to get down to the next book!

Holly Jackson – a good girls guide to murder had been on my list since forever and I finally read it in early January (but I bought it in December and read half of it in a friends copy a few months ago!)

Naomi Novik’s Scolomance series – she has written the Temeraire series which I had read but I feel like this is such a different series it counts! A Deadly Education definitely stands out among this years reads.

K M Shea – At the beginning of the year I went through a huge K M Shea phase, reading through all her Magiford series and several of her fairy tales (I’m planning on writing reviews of the Magiford series soon because they are amazing!).

Tara Grayce – she wrote the elven alliance (which has a part two series which is going to get its third book this year!) Also planning to write reviews of these for the series before the new book comes out!

Casey Blair – I read Coup of Tea for the first time in 2024 and loved it!

Amelie Zhao – Blood Heir was so good and I’m midway through Red Tigress now!

Emma St Clair – Royally (re) arranged was really good and I’ve read several more of her books since (she has done a series collab with Jenny Proctor if you are looking for sweet romances).

Happy Reading!

0

Faye and the City in the Sea, Nicole Bailey

13+

This book continues on from the battle at the end of the first book. usually, fantasy chosen ones just blaze around, killing people with any real remorse, guilt or horror. Faye, on the other hand, has PTSD and withdraws from the camp life. she is still part of the protectors, but the sights of any weapons freaks her out and yet she knows that she will be expected to lead the war as the most powerful being in the Ether. Telanes is the only one who she will let near her when she gets scared and their friendship (and maybe a little more) is cemented. Daron and Alec’s romance develops and the is a hint of a love triangle between Telanes, Faye and Marious (a merman prince) but as in the previous book, romance isnt used as the driving force and that makes far better than most YA. It is slower paced than the first book but that is needed as we explore more of the characters emotions. Most second books are worse than the first, but this is better!

World – 5/5 stars. just so gorgeous in general and i loved seeing the underwater world!

Characters – 5/5 stars – I just love them so much especially the minor characters and Telanes. Telanes might have to take a spot on my favourite love interests of all time list he is just so sweet.

Romance – 4/5 – Sweet Romance– love this so much, Daron and Alec are the sweetest (the only actual romance in this) and like i said above Telanes is just so perfect for Faye and I really hope that they become more than friends!

Plot – 4/5 – like the previous book, the plot is mostly driven by the characters and I enjoyed this on both my first and reread (and possibly third read i’ve lost count).

Things to be aware of: PTSD surrounding blood and battle but nothing too graphic. Some fantasy violence but not much 2/5.

0

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.

0

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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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.

0

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.

1

The Love Interest, Helen Comerfield

13+

This is superhero satire and I love it so much! It might be the first one I have read which actually acknowledges throughout the book how toxic and weird it is that superheroes always have a love interest which is used as bait and regularly helpless in villain situations.

The world is a parallel universe (it is explicitly set in 2024) but superheroes exist and the HPA are the organisation that controls them and is essentially the superhero base. The Diviner (the only female superhero which the HPA acknowledges) is an oracle who produces prophecies of disasters in certain locations from which new superheroes will emerge. The HPA made me simmer with anger throughout, their leader Ron King ‘King Ron’ a former superhero who now leads them is such a chauvinistic man (I think they actually use that term in the book as well). He constantly sees women as weaker and thinks they can only serve as Love Interests. He is incredibly charismatic and our mc struggles to unite the different versions of him which is very realistic because he is an absolutely amazingly written character (even if I hate him).

It was so creepy the little things that were side details that the HPA did. Like Jenna’s sister Megan mentioned that the HPA like it when the Love Interests die young so that the superheroes can have their eternally twenty something love interest for merch and trauma etc. Megan Jenna’s sister is my favourite character but I cant give any spoilers so just let me say she is absolutely just so girlboss but also loves her sister and is so protective.

The essential basic plot is that Blaze a new superhero rescues a young woman (Jenna Ray) who is about his age and so the HPA and the media all assume that she will become his Love Interest. Jenna heartily disagrees with this despite finding him later attractive. I am trying really hard to not give spoilers but I do wish the author had stuck a little harder to the original Jenna’s mindset of this is never going to work between us.

Anyway we have feminism, superhero satire, an amazing supporting cast and a really evil corporation so lets do the stars!

World – 4/5 – I enjoyed it!

Plot – 4/5 – it was rapidly paced and a little predictable but I did enjoy it a lot as we uncovered the HPA’s toxicity.

Characters – 5/5 stars!

Romance – 3/5 – Soft Romance– not my favourite thing about the book, it almost undermined the message – there is romance but it feels like it is a subplot that is growing throughout the book which was nice.

Things to be aware of: sexism is the big one but I think other that its just manipulation and deception – I say just! Some fantasy violence but nothing really in a 13+ – I think you could read it younger but maybe wouldn’t enjoy it as much if you hadn’t had as much of the content it satires.

1

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