Category: Young Adult

Title: The Iron Raven (The Iron Fey: Evenfall #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: February 9, 2021
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

You may have heard of me…

Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Prankster, joker, raven, fool… King Oberon’s right-hand jester from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The legends are many, but the truth will now be known as never before, as Puck finally tells his own story and faces a threat to the lands of Faery and the human world unlike any before.

With the Iron Queen Meghan Chase and her prince consort, Puck’s longtime rival Ash, and allies old and new by his side, Puck begins a fantastical and dangerous adventure not to be missed or forgotten.

Review:

Puck, the jester from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, tells his own story in this new book. He meets a faerie from the Forgotten, who doesn’t remember her past but is working with the Iron Queen’s son. There is a mysterious threat to their land. Along with Puck’s friend Meghan the Iron Queen, his rival Ash, and some other friends, they have to find the source of the threat.

This story is a spin off of the Iron Fey series. I haven’t read that series, but I still understood everything in the story. There were some descriptions of events from the past, which I think were from the previous books. This made it accessible to new readers, like me, but I feel like I know what happened in the other books now, so I probably won’t go back and read them.

Puck was a fun character. I’m glad he had his own story in this book. He was a funny trickster. I also liked the blend of the real world with the faerie world. Puck has been to the human world, so he would compare fae items to human items, but the other fairies didn’t know what he was talking about. These parts were really funny and unique to this story.

I really enjoyed this story! It ended with a cliffhanger, so I’m excited to see what happens in the next book.

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

What to read next:

About the author:

Have you read The Iron Raven? What did you think of it?

Title: The Wide Starlight
Author: Nicole Lesperance
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: VIZ Media
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: February 16, 2021
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The Hazel Wood meets The Astonishing Color of After in this dreamy, atmospheric novel that follows sixteen-year-old Eli as she tries to remember what truly happened the night her mother disappeared off a glacier in Norway under the Northern Lights.

Never whistle at the Northern Lights, the story goes, or they’ll sweep down from the sky and carry you away.

Sixteen-year-old Eline Davis knows it’s true. She was there ten years ago, on a frozen fjord in Svalbard, Norway, the night her mother whistled at the lights and then vanished.

Now Eli lives an ordinary life with her dad on Cape Cod. But when the Northern Lights are visible over the Cape for just one night, she can’t resist the possibility of seeing her mother again. So she whistles—and it works. Her mother appears, with snowy hair, frosty fingertips and a hazy story of where she’s been all these years. And she doesn’t return alone.

Along with Eli’s mother’s reappearance come strange, impossible things. Narwhals swimming in Cape Cod Bay, meteorites landing in Eli’s yard, and three shadowy princesses with ominous messages. It’s all too much, too fast, and Eli pushes her mother away. She disappears again—but this time, she leaves behind a note that will send Eli on a journey across continents, to the northern tip of the world:

Find me where I left you.

Review:

When Eline Davis was six years old, her mother brought her out to a glacier in Norway in the middle of the night. Eline was found, but her mother was never seen again. Now, ten years later, Eline lives in Cape Cod with her dad. One night, the Northern Lights appeared in Cape Cod. Eline went to the beach to see the lights and make a wish to see her mother again. Her mother appears to her, but there are also other strange appearances. A group of narwhals appear in a cove, and some mysterious princesses bring Eline strange messages. Eline knows the only way to fix this is to return to Norway and finally find her mother.

This story was a strange blend of magical realism. There were beautiful stories that Eline and her mother had written between the chapters. These stories were based on the real things that happened to them but they had fantasy elements which made me think they weren’t real. These fantasy elements were also part of the theme of mental illness. Hidden between the lines of Eline’s memories were the moments when her mother was suffering and couldn’t take care of her daughter. These were devastating stories to read about, but it shows how mental illness can affect the family of those suffering.

Though this story was about a sixteen year old girl, it had a middle grade tone. At the beginning I thought that Eline was around twelve or thirteen, but then I realized she was actually sixteen because her and her friends could drive. This story read more like a middle grade story than a young adult story.

This was a heartbreaking story.

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

What to read next:

Have you read The Wide Starlight? What did you think of it?

Title: City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments #3)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: March 24, 2009
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters — never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and her best friend, Simon, has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City — whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the final installment of the New York Times bestselling The Mortal Instruments.

Review:

Clary, Jace, and the Lightwoods have to travel to the City of Glass, the home of the Shadowhunters, for an urgent meeting following the events of the last book. At the last minute, Jace changes the plans, and tells Clary’s friend Simon to keep her at home while they go there. They are suddenly attacked, which leads them to bring Simon, a Downworlder who isn’t allowed in the City, through the portal with them, leaving Clary behind. Clary tries to sneak into the city, but it isn’t easy to do. Meanwhile, Simon is thrown into prison for illegally entering the city. All of the Shadowhunters are brought together in their battle against Valentine, and they have to decide if they can work with the Downworlders to finally defeat him.

This was such a fast paced story. It was set during just a couple of days, which is hard to believe when so much happened. I don’t want to give away any spoilers for the series, but there were two characters who were falling in love with each other, but then they discovered that they were related. Somehow, I was still rooting for these two to be together, even though they were related. I usually wouldn’t want characters who were related to be together but I loved seeing them as a couple. I was glad that in this story, they figured out a way to fix this problem.

The one good thing about entering the Shadowhunters series this late is that there are so many books in this series and all of the spin off series. I’m really looking forward to starting a new trilogy set in this world before returning to The Mortal Instruments.

This was such a good story!

What to read next:

Other books in the series:

• City of Bones
• City of Ashes
• City of Fallen Angels
• City of Lost Souls
• City of Heavenly Fire

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

Title: Wench
Author: Maxine Kaplan
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Amulet Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: January 19, 2021
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A funny, fiercely feminist YA epic fantasy—following the adventures of a tavern wench

Tanya has worked at her tavern since she was able to see over the bar. She broke up her first fight at 11. By the time she was a teenager she knew everything about the place, and she could run it with her eyes closed. She’d never let anyone—whether it be a drunkard or a captain of the queen’s guard—take advantage of her. But when her guardian dies, she might lose it all: the bar, her home, her purpose in life. So she heads out on a quest to petition the queen to keep the tavern in her name—dodging unscrupulous guards, a band of thieves, and a powerful, enchanted feather that seems drawn to her. Fast-paced, magical, and unapologetically feminist, Wench is epic fantasy like you’ve never seen it before.

Content warning: Some magic in the book involves self-harm.

Review:

Tanya has worked at a tavern with her adopted father for the past ten years. When he suddenly dies one day, she loses the tavern. The Queen’s guard takes it from her, so she decides to travel with them to see the Queen and get the title for her tavern back. On their journey to the city, Tanya finds a magical quill that the guard is also transporting. Tanya ends up connecting herself to the quill through blood magic, which leads her on an epic journey through different worlds.

This was quite an extensive magical journey. Tanya went to many different kinds of lands, including forests, a palace, and a volcano. The blood magic was intriguing because it was irreversible. She was connected to the quill in a very intimate way that also had complications.

This story focused on Tanya, but it was written from a third-person perspective, rather than a first-person perspective. I think I would have felt more of a connection to Tanya if it had been written from her point of view. Tanya also seemed to get distracted from her goal of retrieving her tavern. She became focused on the quill and magic, rather than just working towards getting her tavern back. If she had stayed focused on her original goal, she could have completed it much quicker. Also, since it was called “Wench” I thought there would be more of a focus on her working at the tavern. That was a small part of the story, with most of it being about the quill and magic, so the title is deceiving.

This was a good epic fantasy story, but it could have been presented in a more accurate way.

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

What to read next:

About the author:

Giveaway:

One person will win a finished copy of Wench. The giveaway starts on January 25th and ends on February 1st.

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/fc15a59520/

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