Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Most Anticipated Releases of the Last Half of 2021. Here’s my list:
1. Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer
2. If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy
3. Cazadora by Romina Garber
4. Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
5. The Matchmaker’s Lonely Heart by Nancy Campbell Allen
6. Gilded by Marissa Meyer
7. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
8. Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray
9. Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper
10. You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith
(All book covers from Goodreads)
What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?
Title: The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow (The Okay Witch #2) Author: Emma Steinkellner Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Contemporary Publisher: Aladdin Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: July 6, 2021 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
In this hilarious and heartwarming sequel to the bestselling and critically acclaimed graphic novel, The Okay Witch, half-witch Moth Hush uses magic to boost her confidence with disastrous results—perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Molly Ostertag!
Moth Hush is starting to settle into her newfound witch heritage and powers, but life at school continues to be rough. Even her best friend, Charlie, doesn’t entirely understand what it’s like for her to always be the one who gets mocked, and things only get worse when Moth’s mom starts dating one of the dorkiest teachers in the school! Then Moth gets hold of a mysterious charm that can unleash another version of herself—one who is confident, cool, and extremely popular. What could possibly go wrong?
Review:
Moth Hush is a witch, but she’s not allowed to do magic at school. She gets teased at school, and it would be easier if she could just use a spell to make herself more likable. The bullying gets worse when her mom starts dating one of her teachers. Then, Moth discovers a magic charm necklace that can make her popular. But every kind of magic has a price.
This graphic novel started out with a recap of the first book. I was really glad to see that because it’s been a while since I read the first book. It was told by her talking cat, Lazlo, who is a hilarious character. I appreciated seeing this brief recap at the beginning of the book.
Moth faced bullying in her school. Her classmates were quite mean. Moth felt like an outsider since she had just discovered she was a witch, but she couldn’t tell anyone except for her best friend. Using a magic charm didn’t solve her problem. It masked it for a while, but it ended up causing a bigger issue in the end. Rather than fighting back or changing what kind of person she was to please her classmates, Moth had to learn how to be herself.
The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow is a great middle grade graphic novel!
Thank you Simon and Schuster for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished The Okay Witch and the Hungry Shadow by Emma Steinkellner.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Instamom by Chantel Guertin.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading Tell Me When You Feel Something by Vicki Grant.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading Realm Breaker (Realm Breaker #1) by Victoria Aveyard.
Goodreads Synopsis:
A strange darkness grows in Allward.
Even Corayne an-Amarat can feel it, tucked away in her small town at the edge of the sea.
She soon discovers the truth: She is the last of an ancient lineage—and the last hope to save the world from destruction. But she won’t be alone. Even as darkness falls, she is joined by a band of unlikely companions:
A squire, forced to choose between home and honor. An immortal, avenging a broken promise. An assassin, exiled and bloodthirsty. An ancient sorceress, whose riddles hide an eerie foresight. A forger with a secret past. A bounty hunter with a score to settle.
Together they stand against a vicious opponent, invincible and determined to burn all kingdoms to ash, and an army unlike anything the realm has ever witnessed.
Title: Cold Hearted (Villains #8) Author: Serena Valentino Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: July 6, 2021 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
This was supposed to be her happily ever after…
It’s a familiar tale: A kind and beautiful young girl, reeling from loss. A doting father, frantic to bring a mother’s love back into his daughter’s life. And the selfish, cruel woman who insinuates herself into that family―a woman so unfeeling, so cold hearted, that when her new husband dies, she makes the girl a servant in her own home.
But who is that evil stepmother, that icy lady of the house? How did she become so closed off that, in the face of a child’s grief, she thought only to seek wealth and power for herself and her abhorrent daughters? Before that fateful ball, before the glass slipper and the prince, there was another story―a story of love and grief, of hope and of dreams dashed. It is the story of Lady Tremaine.
Even the coldest of villains are sometimes wives and mothers, women who loved and lost and hoped for something grander for their lives . . . once upon a dream.
The latest novel in Serena Valentino’s deliciously devious Villains series introduces the most famed and hated wicked stepmother of them all―but turns everything you know about her on its head.
Review:
When Cinderella asks her Fairy Godmother to help her stepsisters, the Fairy Godmother is reluctant to help. She doesn’t agree with the way her stepmother and stepsisters treated Cinderella, so she doesn’t want to do anything for them. The Fairy Godmother has to read the story of the stepmother, Lady Tremaine, to learn why she treated Cinderella the way she did. Lady Tremaine wasn’t always an evil woman. She was a kind wife with a future planned for her daughters, when she met the man of her dreams. She was whisked away to live with him and his stepdaughter. However, things happened in this new life that turned Lady Tremaine into the evil stepmother that we know in the story of Cinderella.
This was a great origin story about Cinderella’s evil stepmother. She wasn’t inherently evil. She was actually a kind lady in London before she met Cinderella’s father. However, after she moved in with him, she became a different woman.
It was interesting to finally see what Cinderella’s father was really like. He is the person who brought Cinderella and her stepmother together, yet he is rarely seen in the stories about Cinderella. He played an influential role in this story and shaped Lady Tremaine into the woman she became.
Cold Hearted is a great origin story for Lady Tremaine!
Thank you Disney-Hyperion for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Blackout Author: Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance Publisher: Quill Tree Books Source: Purchased Format: Hardcover Release Date: June 22, 2021 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Six critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning authors bring the glowing warmth and electricity of Black teen love to this interlinked novel of charming, hilarious, and heartwarming stories that shine a bright light through the dark.
A summer heatwave blankets New York City in darkness. But as the city is thrown into confusion, a different kind of electricity sparks…
A first meeting.
Long-time friends.
Bitter exes.
And maybe the beginning of something new.
When the lights go out, people reveal hidden truths. Love blossoms, friendship transforms, and new possibilities take flight.
Beloved authors—Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon—celebrate the beauty of six couples and the unforgettable magic that can be found on a sweltering starry night in the city.
Review:
One night, in New York City, the power goes out during a heatwave. Six teens are trying to get across the city to a party in Brooklyn. With chaotic traffic and no subways, it’s nearly impossible. On their journeys to the party, they each have a romantic encounter. Some fall in love while some fall out of love. Others discover what they really want in life and how to get it. Throughout the course of the night, each main character has a life changing experience.
I was so excited to read this book when I heard about it. It’s written by six of the best young adult authors of today. The book is made up of six interconnected stories that are woven together. The characters and stories are all related in some way. It was written during the pandemic, which had a similar feel to the blackout in the story. The teens in the story were left without the ability to travel and even communicate with each other sometimes, so it was reminiscent to the feelings of loneliness and disconnect during the pandemic.
Each story in this book had distinct characters and plot. I loved all of these characters and I would love to see more of them! I can’t imagine how difficult something like this would have been to write, with coordinating six different authors and stories taking place during the same time in the same place. However, I would love to see more of these characters again!
Blackout is an amazing new book that I can’t recommend enough!
What to read next:
A Universe of Wishes by Dhonielle Clayton (editor)
A Phoenix First Must Burn by Patrice Caldwell (editor)
Title: Magic Dark and Strange Author: Kelly Powell Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books Source: Purchased Format: Hardcover Release Date: October 27, 2020 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
The Bone Witch meets Sherlock Holmes in this thrilling historical fantasy about a girl with the ability to raise the dead who must delve into her city’s dangerous magical underworld to stop a series of murders.
Catherine Daly has an unusual talent. By day she works for a printer. But by night, she awakens the dead for a few precious moments with loved ones seeking a final goodbye. But this magic comes with a price: for every hour that a ghost is brought back, Catherine loses an hour from her own life.
When Catherine is given the unusual task of collecting a timepiece from an old grave, she is sure that the mysterious item must contain some kind of enchantment. So she enlists Guy Nolan, the watchmaker’s son, to help her dig it up. But instead of a timepiece, they find a surprise: the body of a teenage boy. And as they watch, he comes back to life—not as the pale imitation that Catherine can conjure, but as a living, breathing boy. A boy with no memory of his past.
This magic is more powerful than any Catherine has ever encountered, and revealing it brings dangerous enemies. Catherine and Guy must race to unravel the connection between the missing timepiece and the undead boy. For this mysterious magic could mean the difference between life and death—for all of them.
Review:
Catherine Daly works at a printer, setting the pages for obituaries, but at night she has a special talent. She goes to cemeteries, digs up graves, and uses her magic to allow loved ones to have a final goodbye. For every hour that a ghost is brought back, Catherine loses an hour of her life. One day, she’s instructed to dig up an unmarked grave of a coffin maker and retrieve a special timepiece that is enchanted to bring the dead back to life, permanently. She gets help from Guy Nolan, the son of a watchmaker. However, when they open the grave, they discover a decades old body and no timepiece. The body comes back to life as a boy, close in age to Catherine. He doesn’t remember anything about his past or the timepiece. Catherine’s employer is still expecting the timepiece, so Catherine, Guy, and the new boy Owen, have to search for the timepiece before it’s too late.
I loved the dark and spooky atmosphere of this book. It was set in a fictional town that reminded me of Victorian England. There was a little magic, with the special power that Catherine had and the magical timepiece. There was lots of time spent in cemeteries which is always fun in a spooky novel.
I found some scenes a little repetitive. They returned to the cemetery a lot, which was understandable since the mystery centered around the cemetery. Some of the scenes were very similar so it felt repetitive. I figured out the secret behind what happened to the timepiece before the ending. I think it was the most logical explanation, so I was glad I got it right.
Magic Dark and Strange is a great spooky read!
What to read next:
Cadaver and Queen by Alisa Kwitney
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Have you read Magic Dark and Strange? What did you think of it?
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