Title: Red School (Part 2) Author: Victoria Aveyard, Soman Chainani, Joel Gennari (illustrator) Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Young Adult Publisher: N/A Source: Purchased Format: Paperback Release Date: December 2, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Fantasy titans Victoria Aveyard and Soman Chainani team up in a two-part graphic novel event! Featuring your favourite characters from ‘Red Queen’ and ‘The School for Good and Evil’ series.
Review:
The characters from Red Queen and the School for Good and Evil are still fighting a plague at the school. Mare, Maven, Cal, Agatha, Sophie, and Tedros must find a way to get to the School Master’s Tower and get the magical Storian pen to stop the virus that is infecting everyone at the school.
This was a great conclusion to the Red School graphic novels. There were some more cameos of characters from the novels that appeared at the heart of the problem. I would recommend reading at least the first book of the Red Queen series and The School for Good and Evil series before reading this one because the action begins right away without much of an introduction to the characters.
These comics were such a fun collaboration. It was exciting to see characters from two great series come together in this short adventure.
I hope there are more collaborations between these characters or other series in the future.
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 Characters Whose Job I Wish I Had. Here’s my list:
1. Lady Whistledown – Gossip Columnist
2. Elizabeth – Novelist
3. Ryn – Gravedigger
4. Annika – App Developer
5. Jace – Shadowhunter
6. Melody – Video Game Producer
7. Emily – Ren Faire Actress
8. Whitney – Reality Star
9. Beatrice – Queen
10. Coco – Fashion Designer
(All book covers from Goodreads)
What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?
Title: The Lost Apothecary Author: Sarah Penner Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Park Row Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: March 2, 2021 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course
Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.
Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.
One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose—selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella’s world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.
In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.
Review:
In 1791, Nella is a secret apothecary who dispenses poisons to her female customers. She had two rules: the poison can never be used against a women and she must record all transactions in her record book. One day, her customer is a young girl named Eliza. She visits the apothecary to get a poison for her mistress to administer to her husband who has suddenly taken an interest in Eliza. This meeting creates an unlikely friendship and threatens to destroy Nella’s entire life’s work. In present day London, Caroline is on her ten year anniversary vacation by herself. She discovered her husband’s affair right before leaving, so she decided to take the vacation alone to have time to think. Caroline goes searching on the banks of the Thames for hidden treasures, and finds a mysterious vial. She takes it upon herself to research the history of the vial, and discovers the two hundred year old mystery of the apothecary murders.
This was such an amazing debut! It was fast paced and I couldn’t put it down. The narrative alternated between Eliza and Nella in 1791 and Caroline in the present. The two stories slowly unraveled together. All of the narratives had exciting cliffhangers that made it almost impossible to stop reading. I usually have a favourite narrative in a story with dual storylines but each of these women’s stories were so exciting, I can’t choose a favourite.
London was an important setting in the story. The two time periods had very different versions of London but they were both connected to the apothecary. Caroline had to use historical maps to figure out where the apothecary would have been in today’s London. Even though the city has been bustling since the time of Nella’s apothecary shop, the secret behind the shop had reminded hidden within London.
This was such a great story! I highly recommend it!
Thank you HarperCollins for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown
The Gown by Jennifer Robson
About the author:
Sarah Penner is the debut author of The Lost Apothecary, to be translated in eleven languages worldwide. She works full-time in finance and is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. She and her husband live in St. Petersburg, Florida, with their miniature dachshund, Zoe. To learn more, visit slpenner.com.
Have you read The Lost Apothecary? What did you think of it?
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 Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading Gutter Child by Jael Richardson.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi.
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 The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner.
Goodreads Synopsis:
A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course
Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.
Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.
One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose—selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella’s world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.
In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.
Title: Hall of Smoke Author: H.M. Long Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Titan Books Source: Publisher Format: Paperback Release Date: January 19, 2021 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
An epic fantasy featuring warrior priestesses and fickle gods at war
Hessa is an Eangi: a warrior priestess of the Goddess of War, with the power to turn an enemy’s bones to dust with a scream. Banished for disobeying her goddess’s command to murder a traveller, she prays for forgiveness alone on a mountainside.
While she is gone, raiders raze her village and obliterate the Eangi priesthood. Grieving and alone, Hessa – the last Eangi – must find the traveller, atone for her weakness and secure her place with her loved ones in the High Halls. As clans from the north and legionaries from the south tear through her homeland, slaughtering everyone in their path, Hessa strives to win back her goddess’ favour.
Beset by zealot soldiers, deceitful gods, and newly-awakened demons at every turn, Hessa burns her path towards redemption and revenge. But her journey reveals a harrowing truth: the gods are dying and the High Halls of the afterlife are fading. Soon Hessa’s trust in her goddess weakens with every unheeded prayer.
Thrust into a battle between the gods of the Old World and the New, Hessa realizes there is far more on the line than securing a life beyond her own death. Bigger, older powers slumber beneath the surface of her world. And they’re about to wake up.
Review:
Hessa is an Eangi, a warrior princess of Eang the Goddess of War. Hessa was instructed by Eang to kill a traveller to her town. When he arrives and Hessa doesn’t kill him, she is banished from the town. But while she’s gone, her home is invaded and her family and friends are killed. Hessa must try to regain her goddess’s trust while also avenging her people.
This was an incredibly detailed fantasy world. I was drawn into the world right away, and I was rooting for Hessa. The story started out with just a couple of characters being introduced in the story so that the reader can get comfortable in this story.
There were a lot of characters to keep track of by the end of the story, and their names were similar so I found it confusing. There were multiple layers of gods as well as the characters in their world. Hessa went through many different groups on her journey, so she met recurring characters along the way. If these characters had names that weren’t so similar, it would have been easier to keep them straight.
This was a great fantasy debut.
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Lost Queen by Signe Pike
Have you read Hall of Smoke? What did you think of it?
