Category: Fantasy

Title: The Lost Sisters (The Folk of the Air #1.5)
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: NOVL
Source: Purchased
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 2, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sometimes the difference between a love story and a horror story is where the ending comes . . . 

While Jude fought for power in the Court of Elfhame against the cruel Prince Cardan, her sister Taryn began to fall in love with the trickster, Locke. 

Half-apology and half-explanation, it turns out that Taryn has some secrets of her own to reveal.

The Lost Sisters is a companion e-novella to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince by master writer Holly Black.

Review:

This story comes between The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King. It is a great refresher of The Cruel Prince because it gives an overview of what happened in that book from a new perspective.

This story is told by Taryn speaking directly to Jude. It is written in the uncommon second person, because it addresses “you.” I read this story after reading The Wicked King, instead of between the two novels. However, I think I enjoyed it more reading it this way, because Taryn plays a unique role in The Wicked King. This story gave me a different perspective of her character because she was able to tell her side of the story.

I enjoyed this short story. It is great for fans of this series!

What to read next:

Have you read The Lost Sisters? What did you think of it?

Title: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Movie Scrapbook
Author: Rick Barba
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Source: Loot Crate
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: November 18, 2016
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Learn all about Newt Scamander and the incredible film from J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Peer inside Newt Scamander’s enchanted suitcase, encounter marvelous creatures, roam the streets of 1920s New York City, and meet Newt’s fascinating friends! This magical scrapbook takes readers on an interactive adventure through Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Filled with removable artifacts, such as wizarding newspapers, posters, and other fascinating finds, this book has something for everyone!

Review:

This book is about the first Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them movie. It has details about the movie, characters, and the beasts.

I loved these kinds of scrapbooks when I was a kid. This book has pieces that can be removed, including different kinds of cards and maps. It is a lot of fun to pull out these pieces and play with the different parts of the book.

I think fans of the book will love this fun book!

What to read next:

Have you read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Movie Scrapbook? What did you think of it?

Title: The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #1)
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: November 7, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

In the first book of the Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, old skeletons are laid bare and new promises prove deadly. This is what happens after happily ever after.

Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.

They’re wrong.

Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.

He shouldn’t.

And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.

They’re right. 

Review:

I’m so glad this series is continuing with Noah Shaw’s story. The Mara Dyer trilogy was only the beginning. Their story progresses a lot in this book.

Though Noah was one of the main characters in the Mara Dyer trilogy, he still remained a mystery. That series was narrated by Mara, so we only got to see her perspective. This book was narrated by Noah, so we got an inside look at what it’s like to be Noah. He is very distinct and different from Mara. Mara becomes the mysterious figure in this book.

I’ve flown through each of these books. I can read them in just a couple of hours. I can’t say too much without giving away the ending, but it was a fast-paced story! Also, there is a page with trigger warnings at the beginning. However, if you’re familiar with this series, you know that just about anything bad that can happen to a person happens in these books, including torture and suicide. The page turns into a bit of a joke, because if you can’t read about these subjects, this series is definitely not for you.

I loved the cliffhanger ending! I can’t wait to see what happens next!

What to read next:

Have you read The Becoming of Noah Shaw? What did you think of it?

Title: Sorcery of Thorns
Author: Margaret Rogerson
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: June 4, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

Review:

I loved that this fantasy story was set in libraries. These libraries weren’t like the ones in our world. They were full of grimoires that could do things, such as speak. However, they could also turn into “maleficts” which were dangerous creatures. It made the library a potentially terrifying place.

I was glad that this story is a standalone. So many fantasy books turn into long series, so it is nice to have the complete story in one book.

I didn’t feel as much of a connection to Elisabeth as I wished I did. If her origins were described, I could have related to her more. All that we know is that she was an orphan and didn’t know who her parents were. I think her mysterious parentage could have created a great plot twist. There was an interesting relationship between a sorcerer and a demon, which was great to read. They became more like family than master and servant.

This was a great fantasy story!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Have you read Sorcery of Thorns? What did you think of it?

Title: The Beholder
Author: Anna Bright
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Indigo Summer Preview
Format: Paperback
Release Date: June 4, 2019
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Selah has waited her whole life for a happily ever after. As the only daughter of the leader of Potomac, she knows her duty is to find the perfect match, a partner who will help secure the future of her people. Now that day has finally come.

But after an excruciatingly public rejection from her closest childhood friend, Selah’s stepmother suggests an unthinkable solution: Selah must set sail across the Atlantic, where a series of potential suitors awaits—and if she doesn’t come home engaged, she shouldn’t come home at all.

From English castle gardens to the fjords of Norge, and under the eye of the dreaded Imperiya Yotne, Selah’s quest will be the journey of a lifetime. But her stepmother’s schemes aren’t the only secrets hiding belowdecks…and the stakes of her voyage may be higher than any happy ending.

Review:

I was so excited to read this book! It is set in an alternate historical world, with similar countries and empires as our world.

I noticed some historical storytellers who worked on the ship, the Beholder, right away. Homer, Grimm, and Andersen were the ones I recognized. I was so excited to find these storytellers in the book. The story also had elements of different fairytales, such as Cinderella, Snow White, and The Odyssey. Selah has an evil stepmother who sends her away, like Cinderella and Snow White. She also goes on an epic journey like Odysseus. I wish there had been more storytelling throughout the book, because I loved these references to famous tales.

I was hoping that there would be more time spend with various suitors in this story. I didn’t realize it would be more than one book, so I was a little confused as to why Selah was spending so much time with only two suitors when she had many more to visit. However, I loved the historical elements from all of the places she visited.

The ending was fast paced and exciting. It gave a great cliffhanger for the next book!

Thank you Indigo for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Have you read The Beholder? What did you think of it?

Title: The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2)
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: January 8, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world. 

Review:

I loved The Cruel Prince, but it has been a long time since I read it, so I had to look up some summaries before reading The Wicked King. I’m so glad I finally read it. This was a great second book in the series.

This series has been my first real introduction into the world of Faeries. The Faerie world is explained in an easy to follow way, so I think this is a great series to read if you’re just getting into the Faerie fantasy genre.

This story was fast paced. I flew through it in one day. Everything takes place over a couple of months, but it felt like a much shorter timespan. There was a lot that happened, and it was never a dull moment.

I guessed at what would happen at the end, since I know the third book is called Queen of Nothing, so someone must become a Queen at the end. However, there was a twist that I wasn’t expecting. I’m so excited to see what happens next!

What to read next:

Have you read The Wicked King? What did you think of it?

Title: The Caged Queen (Iskari #2)
Author: Kristen Ciccarelli
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: September 25, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Elloren Gardner and her friends were only seeking to right a few wrongs, but their actions have propelled them straight into the ranks of the realm-wide Resistance against Gardnerian encroachment. As the Resistance struggles against the harsh rulings of High Priest Marcus Vogel and the Mage Council, Elloren begins to realize that none of the people she cares about will be safe if Gardneria seizes control of the Western Realm.

With tensions heating up in Verpacia, more and more Gardnerian soldiers continue to descend upon the university…led by none other than Lukas Grey, now commander of the newly rebuilt Fourth Division base. Though Elloren tries to keep him at arm’s length, Lukas is determined to wandfast to her, convinced that she has inherited her grandmother’s magic—the prophesied power of the Black Witch. As his very nearness seems to awaken a darkness inside her, Elloren finds it more and more difficult to believe that she’s truly powerless, as her uncle always claimed.

Caught between her growing feelings for the rebellious Yvan Guriel and the seductive power offered by Lukas Grey, Elloren must find a way to stay true to what she knows is right and protect everyone she loves…even if that means protecting them from herself.

Review:

I loved this book! I loved The Last Namsara, so I was excited to read this sequel.

This book wasn’t a typical sequel, because it had a different plot. It was in the same world with the same characters, but there was a different heroine in this story than The Last Namsara. I loved Asha’s story in the first book, and it took a little while to get used to the new main character, Roa. She was in the first book, but not as much as in this one. This was a great way to show a different perspective of the world.

I was surprised at the ending. I thought I knew how the story would end throughout the book, but I was wrong. I was pleased with this ending, because it was hopeful.

This is a great series! I’m excited to read the next book in the series when it comes out!

What to read next:

Have you read The Caged Queen? What did you think of it?