Category: Fantasy

Title: Fable (Fable #1)
Author: Adrienne Young
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: February 1, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

For seventeen-year-old Fable, the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home she has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one, and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive. 

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men. Fable takes you on a spectacular journey filled with romance, intrigue, and adventure.

Review:

Four years ago, Fable was abandoned by her powerful trader father after her mother drowned in a storm. Now, Fable is seventeen-years-old, and is fighting for her life every day by collecting gems from the ocean to trade. Her goal is to return to her father and take a place on one of his ships. Fable is finally able to pay her way out of town on a ship, the Marigold, with a trader named West. However, West isn’t who he seems. Fable has to work with the crew to stay alive in a dangerous life on the sea. 

I wanted to read this series because of the beautiful book covers. The story was so great too! I don’t usually like tales about ships, but this one was fast paced and kept me reading. There was a lot of social politics involved, as well as dramatic twists at the end. I’m so excited to read the rest of the series. 

Fable is a great start to a young adult series!

What to read next:

Other books in the series:

• Saint (Fable #0.5)
• Fable (Fable #1)
• Namesake (Fable #2)
• The Last Legacy (Fable #3)

Have you read Fable? What did you think of it?

Title: Castles in Their Bones (Castles in Their Bones #1)
Author: Laura Sebastian
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: February 1, 2022
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A spellbinding story of three princesses and the destiny they were born for: seduction, conquest, and the crown. Immerse yourself in the first book in a new fantasy trilogy from the author of the New York Times bestselling Ash Princess series.

Empress Margaraux has had plans for her daughters since the day they were born. Princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz will be queens. And now, age sixteen, they each must leave their homeland and marry their princes.

Beautiful, smart, and demure, the triplets appear to be the perfect brides—because Margaraux knows there is one common truth: everyone underestimates a girl. Which is a grave mistake. Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz are no innocents. They have been trained since birth in the arts of deception, seduction, and violence with a singular goal—to bring down monarchies— and their marriages are merely the first stage of their mother’s grand vision: to one day reign over the entire continent of Vesteria.

The princesses have spent their lives preparing, and now they are ready, each with her own secret skill, and each with a single wish, pulled from the stars. Only, the stars have their own plans—and their mother hasn’t told them all of hers.

Life abroad is a test. Will their loyalties stay true? Or will they learn that they can’t trust anyone—not even each other?

Review:

Since Empress Margaraux gave birth to triplets, she planned to marry them off to princes in three different countries so that she could reign over them all. When they turn sixteen, Princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz are each sent to a different country to get married, with the promise that they will be reunited at home a year later. They have been trained to take down the monarchies using seduction, deception, and perhaps some magic. However, their mother did not tell them all of her plans. The three girls have to navigate around new countries and monarchies while dodging the tests that are put in their way. 

I knew I would love this story because I loved Laura Sebastian’s Ash Princess trilogy. This one lived up to my expectations. The settings were descriptive and distinct. The three sisters were sent to different countries, and they each had to deal with a completely different situation with their new husband and politics at the palaces. There were loads of twists that I didn’t expect. The ending was shocking and I found it hard to believe that one thing really happened. I’m so glad I will get to read the next one soon, as it comes out next week!

Castles in Their Bones was a thrilling start to a fantasy series!

Thank you Penguin Teen Canada for providing a digital copy of this book.

What to read next:

Other books in the series:

• Starlight in Their Veins (Castles in Their Bones #2)

Have you read Castles in Their Bones? What did you think of it?

Title: Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: August 15, 2013
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

“A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend.”

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena’s world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie… and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

Review:

Assassin Celaena Sardothien is now the King’s Champion, which means she must murder anyone who the King orders her to kill. However, she hasn’t been keeping her promises. She’s sending the men into hiding while she pretends to have murdered them. While on these missions, Celaena discovers an underground group who is trying to take the King down. Meanwhile, her friend Nehemia, a foreign princess, has a target on her back that Celaena isn’t told about. All of these issues lead to a tragic night, where Celaena’s life turns in a new direction. 

I’m so glad that I’m finally reading the Throne of Glass series! It’s fast paced and exciting. There was more magic in this story, which made it unpredictable. I had suspected the final twist based on things I’d heard about the series over the years, but I still enjoyed the ending. 

Crown of Midnight is a great sequel to Throne of Glass!

What to read next:

Other books in the series:

• Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)
• Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3)
• Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4)
• Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5)
• Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6)
• Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7)

Have you read Crown of Midnight? What did you think of it?

Title: Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: August 2, 2012
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien. 

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

Review:

Celaena Sardothien is an assassin, living in a prison, when she’s summoned to the palace. She will compete with twenty-three other killers, thieves, and warriors to become the king’s champion. Celaena looks like a weak girl, but she’s been through a lot and is stronger than she looks. She’s protected and coached by the Crown Prince, Dorian, and the head of the king’s guard, Chaol. However, soon after the competition starts, the competitors are killed off one by one in mysterious circumstances. Something is out to get the competitors, and Celaena needs to figure out how to survive and win her freedom. 

This is actually my second time reading Throne of Glass. I read it for the first time years ago, but for some reason, I didn’t remember anything that happened. I’m so glad I decided to reread it because now I’m hooked and need to know what happens next. 

I’m really looking forward to continuing the series in the new year! I can already tell this will be one of my favourites.

What to read next:

Other books in the series:

• Crown of Midnight
• Heir of Fire
• Queen of Shadows
• Empire of Storms
• Tower of Dawn
• Kingdom of Ash

Have you read Throne of Glass? What did you think of it?