Category: Young Adult

Title: An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
 
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
 
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
 
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
 
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

Review:

Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. When their house is raided one night, her grandparents are murdered, her brother is taken to jail, and Laia escapes. She finds the Resistance who say they will help save her brother if she infiltrates the military school as a slave to the leader, the Commandant. Elias is a soldier at the school, and the estranged son of the Commandant. He plans his escape from their prison-like school, but instead he is put in the Trials to find the person who will inherit the Emperor’s position. Both Laia’s and Elias’s goals become intertwined as they try to destroy the empire that created them.

I’ve had this series on my TBR and I’m so glad I finally started it. It had descriptive world building that hooked me right away. The chapters alternated between Laia’s and Elias’s POVs. It was fast paced, and I had to keep reading to find out what happened next! I’m so glad I can read the rest of the series right away. 

An Ember in the Ashes is a great YA fantasy!

Content warnings: death of parents, death of grandparents, kidnapping, stabbing, slavery, abuse

Other books in the series:

• A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2)
• A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3)
• A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #4)

Have you read An Ember in the Ashes? What did you think of it?

Title: Sunderworld, Vol. 1: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry
Author: Ransom Riggs
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin Teen Canada
Source: Publisher
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: August 27, 2024
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The much-anticipated new fantasy series from Ransom Riggs, his first since introducing the #1 global phenomenon Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.

Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won’t leave him alone. Every hallucinatory moment seems plucked from a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max’s Adventures in Sunderworld—and that’s because they are. 

Not a good sign.

In the blurry weeks after his mother’s death, a young Leopold discovered VHS tapes of its one and only season in a box headed for the trash—and soon became obsessed. Losing himself in Sunder was the best way to avoid two things: grieving his mother and being a chronic disappointment to his overbearing father. But when the strange visions return—at the worst possible time on the worst possible day—Leopold turns to his best friend Emmet for help. Together they discover that Sunder is much more than just an old TV show, and that Los Angeles is far stranger than they ever imagined. And soon, he’ll realize that not only is Sunderworld real, but it’s in grave danger.

Certain he’s finally been chosen for greatness, Leopold risks everything to claim his destiny, save the world of his childhood dreams, and prove once and for all that he’s not the disappointment his father believes him to be. But when everything goes terribly, horribly, excruciatingly wrong, Leopold’s disappointments prove to be more extraordinary than he ever could have imagined.

How do you battle darkness when no one believes in you—not even yourself?

Visionary storyteller Ransom Riggs weaves the familiar with the peculiar in a stunning loss, triumph, friendship and magic, reminding readers everywhere that true heroes are made, not born—and that when you’re never the chosen one, sometimes you have to choose yourself. 

Welcome to Sunderworld.

Review:

Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry keeps seeing strange things around Los Angeles. He saw a raccoon on fire and a man who opened a portal from a parking meter. All of these strange sights come from Sunderworld, a 90s TV show. Leopold became obsessed with Sunderworld after finding the VHS tapes in his mother’s belongings after she died. When Leopold asks his friend Emmet for help with these visions, they discover that Sunderworld is a real place. They travel there together, which seems like a dream come true for Leopold, but everything goes wrong. It isn’t the place that Leopold expected, and he ends up running for his life and discovering secrets about his past.

I was so excited when I heard about this book! It lived up to my expectations. It was fast paced and exciting. The story reminded me of the Miss Peregrine series, but it was a different story. There were some great mysteries set up that I’m sure will be explored in future books.

Sunderworld, Vol. 1: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry is a great start to a new series!

Thank you Penguin Teen Canada for sending me a copy of this book!

Content warnings: death of parent (off page)

Have you read Sunderworld, Vol. 1: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry? What did you think of it?

Title: Powerless (The Powerless Trilogy #1)
Author: Lauren Roberts
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback arc
Release Date: January 31, 2023
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

She is the very thing he’s spent his whole life hunting.
He is the very thing she’s spent her whole life pretending to be.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.

Review:

In Ilya, the Elite have been granted extraordinary powers. Those who don’t have those powers are called Ordinary, and they have been banished by the King. Paedyn Gray is an Ordinary, but she’s a clever thief who is able to pose as an Elite with psychic powers. After saving Prince Kai in the city, Paedyn is taken to the palace and sent to the Purging Trials. The trials is a competition that is meant to showcase the powers of the Elite, which Paedyn doesn’t actually have. Paedyn is joined in these trials by Prince Kai who has been trained to enforce the laws for the King and can’t resist being close to Paedyn. She must try to convince everyone she has powers and survive the trial so that her secret isn’t discovered.

This was a great fantasy competition story. There were nods to some classic YA fantasy stories including a love triangle with two princes and a magical hedge maze. I liked that the narrative skipped over transition scenes and showed the important events. Fantasy stories can become tedious if they focus on every small detail but this one kept up a steady pace. I’m excited to read the sequel!

Powerless is a great YA fantasy!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book. 

Content warnings: death, stabbing, death of parent

Other books in the series:

• Powerful (The Powerless Trilogy #1.5)
• Reckless (The Powerless Trilogy #2)

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